


The Lestrange Princess

by ThoseTwoPlants



Category: Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling
Genre: Beauxbatons, Enemies to Friends to Lovers, F/M, France - Freeform, Hogwarts, M/M, Princes & Princesses, Ravenclaw, Slytherin
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-07-07
Updated: 2021-02-21
Packaged: 2021-03-04 20:21:26
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 24
Words: 62,823
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25102333
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ThoseTwoPlants/pseuds/ThoseTwoPlants
Summary: In France, the Wizarding World is ruled by a Wizarding King rather than a Minister of Magic. Rabastan Lestrange marries into the family and has children who are Lestranges, but also Princes and Princesses of the French Wizarding World. This story follows his children, specifically his youngest daughter Arabella Lestrange, and her journey through her years at Hogwarts.This is a work in progress and I'm really only posting it to pressure myself into actually writing it, instead of just wishing the story existed. Updates will be at the beginning of every other week (Sunday/Monday) now that I'm back at college and have a significantly busier schedule.
Relationships: Draco Malfoy/Original Female Character(s), Harry Potter/Ginny Weasley, Harry Potter/Original Female Character(s), Hermione Granger/Ron Weasley, Seamus Finnigan/Dean Thomas
Comments: 2
Kudos: 41





	1. Dragonpox: June 1981

Rabastan Lestrange held his baby daughter and rocked her gently as she whimpered for her mother. His other seven children stood in a neat row to his right, from oldest to youngest, as they watched the coffin, containing their mother, be lowered into the ground of the cemetery of Chateau de Chaumont. The Chateau was where they had grown up and was their mother’s home gifted to her for her marriage by her brother King Louis XVIII of Magical France. Rabastan had met his future wife while working for the French Wizarding Government on the Dark Lord’s orders to seek out potential recruits or sympathizers. Despite his loyalty and commitment to Voldemort, Rabastan had quickly fallen in love with Cassandra and married her. Twelve years later, Cassandra had just given birth to their eighth child, a baby girl, on April 10th 1981. Unfortunately, during her most recent pregnancy she had caught dragon pox which had been wreaking havoc among the Wizarding communities in Britain and France. Although she had survived through the pregnancy, and given birth prematurely to a baby girl named Arabella, she was severely weakened and died less than three months after giving birth to the newest princess. Rabastan was torn apart by the loss of his wife and had cried over her green tinged and pockmarked body earlier when he was alone. Now he portrayed a cold facade as each of his silent children laid a rose upon her coffin.

He finally turned away from the grave and walked back towards the Chateau, his children falling in neatly and other than a few sniffles and small sobs for their mother, quietly too. His brother-in-law Louis, the heir to the French throne, approached him once he walked into the main parlor of the chateau and quietly offered to take the children for the evening to give Rabastan time to mourn. He gratefully agreed as he knew his time was limited before the Dark Lord would call him to return to his duties and he could not mourn in front of Voldemort.  
As the children filed out of the room Rabastan called out to his eldest, “Ajax, stay here for a moment.”  
Slight worry filled Ajax's eyes as the almost 11 year old approached his father, who was now sitting on a couch, rocking a sleeping Arabella, “Yes, Father?” he asked nervously hoping he hadn’t done something wrong.

“I wished to speak with you about your schooling this fall,” Rabastan said bluntly, “I have decided that it would be best for you to attend my old school, Hogwarts, I know your mother had mentioned sending you to Beauxbaton as you are the third in line to the French throne but you are above all else my son and the Lestrange’s have always attended Hogwarts so you will too. Do you understand?”

“But Father, Mother wanted me to go to Beauxbatons like she did. She already ordered my uniform and some of my books!” Ajax cried, not wanting to lose a connection to his mother by going to the same magical school she had. Arabella cried out from her father’s arms, startled by Ajax’s shout.

“Ajax Leonidas Valois Lestrange, My decision is final. I have already contacted the Headmaster and let him know that you are coming and your books and robes are on their way.” Rabastan said, trying to calm the baby.

“Yes, Father.” Ajax mumbled, fixating his gaze on his dress shoes.

“At Hogwarts there will be certain expectations of you as my son. Firstly, you must be in Slytherin. It is the best house and our family has been in that house for generations. If you are put in Ravenclaw I suppose that is fine too but for the love of Merlin I will disown you if you are a Gryffindor or a Hufflepuff. Secondly, you must not associate with any muggleborns or blood traitors while at school. Their very presence alongside you as a pureblood is disrespectful and they shouldn’t be allowed to study magic. Therefore you may only befriend other purebloods or halfbloods. Thirdly, always remember that no matter what other student is in front of you, you are better than they are. You are the Prince of France and a Lestrange. We have hired the best tutors money can buy so that you and your siblings will be ahead when you begin school but I expect you to set a high standard for your siblings to look up to. We do not tolerate failure in this family so study hard and do well. Am I understood?” Rabastan asked.

“Yes, Father,” Ajax replied, making eye contact with his father once again. “May I go now?”

Rabastan sighed and handed his youngest daughter over to Ajax, “Yes, but take her with you. I have work that needs to be done,” Ajax quickly walked to the door cradling his sister in his arms. He had almost left when his father called out one more time, “Ajax, remember one last thing. Family is everything. Protect your little brothers and sisters no matter what.”

Ajax looked down at the bundle in his arms. A thick tuft of black hair popped out from under the blanket swaddling her and Arabella looked up at him with the biggest blue eyes he had ever seen. He knew out of all his father expected of him this would be the easiest and replied simply, “Always.” before walking out of the room, a butler shutting the door behind him.

Rabastan stood and wiped his face tiredly with the palm of his hand, heading for his study. When he arrived in his study an owl was waiting for him, its beady black eyes staring him down as he opened the letter. The letter was from his brother Rodulphus, saying that the Dark Lord expected him to be at the next meeting in two days' time. Rabastan sat down and penned a quick response promising his presence and sent the owl off into the setting sun, watching with a steady glare until the owl disappeared into a speck in the sky. If he had ever had a conscience the reason had been his wife and now that she was gone he could feel a pit of anger in his stomach growing deeper and deeper. When Rabastan returned to the Death Eaters, he would be a much harder and more brutal man.


	2. Azkaban: November 1981

Ajax boarded the Hogwarts Express on September 1st just like every other student. This was despite the fact that he was third in line for the French throne and the son of a prominent Death Eater, but his uncle had spoken to Headmaster Dumbledore and they had decided that in the interest of safety no one except the faculty was to be told that he was a prince. Of course if people did their own research it wouldn’t be hard to figure it out, but with the war against Voldemort raging no one was paying attention to the line of succession of the French throne.

Ajax hugged his uncle goodbye and pushed his cart through the barrier at platform 9 ¾ and onto the smoke filled platform beyond. While all the other students around him were excited and loud, Ajax was already wishing he was back at Chaumont with his family. Arabella was sick again and had been shivering and congested when he had finally had to leave for fear of missing the train. Her immune system hadn’t been able to properly form because of her mother’s dragonpox and her premature birth, which left Arabella particularly susceptible to disease and she had already been ill several times in her short life and Ajax hated to be away when she was still so small. Seraphina, the second oldest, had been holding Arabella when he left, trying to calm her tears, and had assured him that she would keep him updated on her condition. Their father had been gone since their mother’s funeral at the end of June and Seraphina and Ajax had done their best to take over in place of their parents, but they were still just kids themselves, Seraphina was only 8 and Ajax had just turned 11 on August 16th.

As the landscape rushed by outside the window of the Hogwarts Express Ajax wondered if other students had to worry as much about their family as he did. He worried about them constantly and didn’t help that he had so many little siblings. He worried about baby Arabella and all of her illnesses. He worried about Septimus, who was almost three, and how quiet he had become since their mother had died. He worried about the four year old identical twins Castor and Pollux and if their accidental magic was still wreaking havoc on the household. He worried about Romulus and Pandora, the six year old twins and how their homeschooling lessons were going to go since they started that this year. And he worried about Seraphina trying to manage so much on her own with only help from their godparents Nicholas and Perenelle Flamel and their Uncle Louis.

Ajax basically ignored most of the other first year students on the train, as they sailed across the lake and entered Hogwarts. He was so preoccupied with his worrying that he only snapped out of his trance when the stern looking professor with the glasses called out “Lestrange, Ajax” and he stumbled forward towards the Sorting Hat. As the brim of the hat settled over his eyes he told himself that his family would be just fine and that he would do everything possible to keep them safe, but also try to worry a little less.

When the hat declared “Slytherin” and was lifted off his head, it felt like a physical weight had been lifted off his mind and heart and he smiled as he approached the cheering Slytherin table and sat down. He was joined soon after by another boy named Felix and Ajax spent the rest of dinner happily engaged in conversation with him.

Only a couple of months later Ajax was doing well for himself. He had a healthy number of friends in both the Slytherin house and the rest of the school and he found that he enjoyed school more now that he had others learning alongside him. One morning in late November, Ajax trotted into breakfast, a gang of boys around him, as he sat down at the Slytherin table, and began to eat his breakfast. This morning though instead of the normal buzz of conversation the Great Hall was oddly quiet and when he looked up from his breakfast Ajax noticed a lot of students staring judgmentally in his direction. Confused, he turned to some older students sitting nearby seeking answers.

“What’s going on?” he asked.

Wordlessly he was handed a copy of the Daily Prophet. Across the front cover in bold font were the words, “Rodolphus, Rabastan, and Bellatrix Lestrange sentenced to life in Azkaban for the torture of Frank and Alice Longbottom”. Ajax felt sick to his stomach as he looked at the mugshots of his father, aunt, and uncle in Azkaban prison clothes and was shocked by his father’s action. He had only received two letters from his father during his time at Hogwarts, one congratulating him on getting into Slytherin, and the other to rage when Voldemort had been defeated a few weeks before. He had known that his father was a Death Eater, but what that meant had never registered for him until now. Ajax clenched the newspaper tight in his fist and quickly stood up from the Slytherin table and fled the Great Hall with cheeks rosy from embarrassment as he felt the eyes of much of the room following him out.


	3. Flourish and Blotts: August 1992

Arabella sat on the floor between the bookcases towering on either side of her. She had been browsing for her school books when some others had caught her eye and she had now lost herself in them. She was wearing a dark blue flowered dress, legs crossed as she sat hunched over her book, her gemstone studded headband, that vaguely resembled a tiara, slipping forward towards her forehead. The air smelled slightly musty and the only sound was the pages of her book being turned. Eventually fast footsteps and cursing from the end of the aisle interrupted her quiet and she looked up to see her eldest brother Ajax rushing down the aisle towards her.  


“Arabella! Mon petit fleur!” He exclaimed as he finally reached her, fell to his knees, and pulled her into his arms, “We should have known better than to leave you alone in a bookstore! Ever since we lost you for hours in the Chateau de Chambord library when you were six we haven’t left you alone around books!”  


Arabella laughed at her brother’s dramatics, wiggling out of his grip, and getting to her feet.  


“I wasn’t gone that long!” she said.  


“Arabella, we’ve been in this bookstore nearly an hour getting the books for the six of you, and I don’t remember seeing you since we walked in the door.”  


“Oh… well I guess I lost track of time. There are so many great books up here!”  


“Alright, well pick out your favourites and let's head downstairs before Phina has an aneurysm.”  
Arabella grinned and grabbed four of the books she had been perusing, handing them off to Ajax. He grabbed her hand before she could skip off though.  


“I’m keeping hold of you! Don’t want you to go missing in the books again!”  


The siblings laughed and headed towards the staircase at the front of the shop. Arabella finally noticed the cheers coming from the first floor.  


“What’s going on down there?”  


“Oh some bloke who wrote a bunch of Defense Against the Dark Arts books is here signing them today.”  


They reached the top of the stairs and could see a crowd of people filling the floor below them. Ajax frowned, and waved at a long dark haired young witch pressed against a bookshelf, a mountain of books in her arms, trying to get her attention. She finally noticed him and nodded back, her smile growing wider when he gestured to Ara tucked in beside him.  


“Alright Ara, why don’t you stay here while Phina and I go pay for the books and then we’ll come fetch you when it’s time to leave. It’s a madhouse down there and I’d hate to lose you again.”  


Ajax winked at her and she rolled her eyes back at him, but took a seat atop a rather spindly looking stool at the top of the stairs. From here she had a great vantage point of the crowd below. She could see her brother standing a full head above most of the other wizards in the store. He was pushing his way towards her eldest sister with his considerable strength and a stone faced glare that he wore amongst most people who weren’t family. Looking at the tops of the heads below her she watched a cluster of redheads pushing their way towards the front, clearly trying to escape the madness. Just down the stairs from her there was a platinum blonde boy who looked like he was reading a book at first glance, but he really seemed to be glaring at the redheads as they got closer to his perch. Ara watched them curious to see what happened next, but nothing could prepare her for what came next.  


He ripped a page out of the book he was holding before dropping it back onto the tall pile beside him. Arabella nearly gasped in outrage. Books were one of her favorite things in the world and this boy had just ripped a page out of a book that wasn’t even his! She could feel her disdain for this boy growing and she had just started to stomp her way down the stairs to tell him off, when he started mouthing off to the group of redheads.  


“Bet you loved that, didn’t you, Potter?” the blonde boy said.  


Arabella stopped walking and perked up at the name. She glanced back at the redheads and noticed for the first time a very slight boy with dark hair shooting in every direction, glasses, and a scar peeking through the hair on his forehead. Ara knew exactly who this was. Not only had he defeated Voldemort when he was just a baby, but she had also heard about all his antics at Hogwarts last year from her older siblings.  


“Famous Harry Potter,” the blonde continued, “Can’t even go into a bookstore without making the front page.”  


“Leave him alone!” Piped up the only redhead who was a girl, stepping forward and glaring at the blonde.  


“Oh look Potter, you’ve got yourself a girlfriend!”  


Harry Potter looked like he was about to respond when a man with long and similarly blonde hair to the destroyer of books appeared behind the blonde, placing a hand on his shoulder.  


“Now Draco, play nicely,” he said, seeming to draw out every syllable. He turned to Harry, “Lucius Malfoy.”  


At that moment both an older looking redhead and her siblings arrived at the front of the store.  


“Ah, kids! It’s too crowded in here, let’s go outside!” The redhead said, coming in behind his children.  


“Arthur Weasley,” Mr. Malfoy drawled, “Busy time at the Ministry I hear. All those extra raids. I do hope they’re paying you overtime,” he stepped forward in the blink of an eye pulling a tattered book out of the girl’s cauldron, “But, judging by this, obviously not. Dear me, what’s the use of being a disgrace to the name of wizard if they don’t even pay you well for it?”  
(p)Arthur Weasley looked like a teapot at a boil, face red and Ara was sure she could see steam coming out of his ears, but before he could respond Ajax, who had grabbed her hand in the midst of the showdown, cut in.  


“Most of us have a very different idea of what disgraces the name of wizard,” he said, stepping in between the two, before sneering “Malfoy.”  


Both Mr. Weasley and Mr. Malfoy seemed surprised by the newcomer in the conversation, and the crackling tension fizzled somewhat.  


“Lestrange?” Mr. Malfoy said, peering skeptically up at Ajax, “It really is you. Well, I wonder what your father would say… his eldest son, standing up for blood traitors.”  


“He can rot in his cell,” Ajax said. His face was a stone mask, his dark grey eyes piercing into Mr. Malfoy, who seemed to take a slight step backwards under the force of his glare. “Come on, Ara, let’s get away from this disgrace to the name of wizard.”  


He pulled Ara forward through the middle of the men towards the door. Ara could feel everyone’s eyes on her and her siblings as they moved towards the door, but the world seemed to move in slow motion both Malfoys seemed to bore into her with identical cold grey glares, which she met with her own glare, dark eyebrows furrowed over bright blue eyes. The world finally seemed to stop moving in slow motion as the bell on the shop door rang and the Lestranges stepped onto the street of Diagon Alley.  


“Sorry about that, mon princesse,” Ajax said as they moved away from Flourish and Blotts, “Malfoy just really gets under my skin with his old fashioned prejudice.”  


“Yeah,” Seraphina chimed in, “Our family and our father may have thought like that, but we have learned from their mistake.”  


Phina tucked Ara under her arm and Ara shivered as the last of the cold from the encounter left her body.  


“Now, mon petit fleur,” Ajax said, a smile returning to his face, “Let’s go get some ice cream and wait for your siblings to get back from the rest of their shopping. They’re supposed to meet us at 3, but I don’t trust that any of the twins will get back on time.”  


Ara giggled, as she bounced down the streets with her siblings. She couldn’t believe she was finally going to be starting Hogwarts this year. Ajax had graduated when she was 7 and moved back in with her at Chateau de Chaumont full time while he was completing his Auror training in France. He had replaced her with tales of Hogwarts for years and she felt like her heart was going to beat out of her chest and do a little jig for them on the ground. When they got to Florean Fortescue’s Ice Cream Parlour her siblings let her get two flavours, and she ended up with a heaping bowl of half apple crumble and half strawberry and peanut butter.  


They went to sit outside on the patio and found Septimus, now almost 15 years old and going into his Fourth Year at Hogwarts, already sitting at a table under an umbrella, nose stuck in a book about wandlore. He put the book down as they approached, eyes wandering over Arabella’s sundae, before his blue gaze popped to hers.  


“How was shopping, mon lapin? What all did you get?”  


Arabella was more than happy to oblige Septimus, pulling out various purchases to show him her new wand, ash with a phoenix feather, her new robes, and various cauldrons, scales, and inks. Castor and Pollux were the next of their siblings to arrive, crowding in around their table. They had spent most of their time in Quality Quidditch Supplies agonizing over various broom cleaning kits and drooling over the new Nimbus 2001. Finally, about twenty minutes after their scheduled meet time, Pandora and Romulus appeared, hurrying up the street and bickering about who had made them late. The twins had been made the Head Boy and Girl this year and Ara was already wondering how that dynamic was going to work out.  


Now reunited the siblings fell into easy conversation and moved in one black-haired mass down the street towards the Leaky Cauldron. Ever since Ajax had graduated they had stayed in the Leaky Cauldron for the last week or two of the summer, gotten school supplies from Diagon Alley, and met up with school friends. Arabella smiled at her siblings around her, chattering away and thinking about how excited she was to start school, but also how sad she was to not be living with Ajax and Seraphina anymore. Both had lived with her after they graduated from Hogwarts while they trained and worked in France, but they had taken on the role of her surrogate parents much earlier on. Unlike her siblings, she couldn’t remember either of her parents at all, but their home had never been short of love or joy or siblings to surround her, so she was content.


	4. The Hogwarts Express: September 1992

September first came a few days later and the siblings gathered their trunks, owls, and robes and headed to Kings Cross. Arabella had perched herself atop that cart full of trunks that Ajax was pushing and was squirming from excitement. She tossed her brilliant smile down at her siblings as they all pushed their carts or each other as they wove through the crowds. Platforms 9 and 10 came into view as they rounded a corner and Ara suddenly pushed off the pile of trunks and was looking at the entrance to the platform with wide eyes. Even though she had been onto platform 9 ¾ multiple times to see various assortments of her siblings off it was novel that she was going to be able to get on the train and be whisked away. 

They were just about to go through the barrier when a noisy group of wizards came up behind them. Her siblings started going through the barrier one after another, until it was just her, Ajax, and Seraphina. 

“Look mum they’ve got even more people in their family that we do!” she heard behind her. 

Glancing over her shoulder Ara saw a sea of red hair and immediately recognized the Weasleys and Harry Potter from Diagon Alley. The young boy who had spoken was hastily shushed by his mother as she saw Seraphina and Arabella glancing over. 

“Yes, Ron,” She replied quietly, although the remaining Lestranges could still hear her, “Those are the Lestranges. It’s best just to leave them be, the whole family’s a bad sort. ” 

Seraphina turned her head back to her family growing defensive of her family, but she chose to ignore the rude comments of Molly Weasley as she took Ara’s hand, planted a firm kiss on the top of her head, and jogged with her through the platform Ajax following close behind. On the other side of the barrier, Ajax quickly started helping the other children to load their trunks onto the train. Castor and Pollux saluted their brother, pecked Seraphina on the cheek, and ran off to find their friends. Pandora was quick to follow them as she spotted her Prefect friends and hurried towards the group of giggling girls after quick hugs from her eldest brother and sister. Romulus lingered slightly before ruffling Ara’s hair, promising to catch up later, and boarded the train. When Ara turned back from watching Romulus go Ajax was lecturing Septimus about remembering to keep up his grades as it got closer to his OWL year. 

“Yes dad I’ll be a good little boy,” He quipped, rolling his eyes at Ajax, “Honestly you should be giving this lecture to Castor and Pollux. It is actually their OWL year, and we both know they care more about Quidditch than grades.” 

“Alright then, good to know you’ll be bringing home straight O’s,” Ajax replied smiling fondly at his youngest brother. Septimus rolled his eyes and Ajax just sighed and caught Septimus in a hug, “Just be good. I don’t want any OWLs from Professor Snape saying you’ve had another sleepover in the Forbidden Forest.” 

“No promises, bye Jax. Go catch some Dark Wizards for me!” Septimus freed himself from his brother’s grip and gave Seraphina a hug and a kiss on the cheek before running off into the smoke of the platform. 

Now it was just Arabella with Ajax and Seraphina and she was clutching her sister’s hand, eyes darting between their two faces. 

“Alright, mon petit fleur,” Ajax said, turning to his baby sister and smiling softly at her, “Give me a hug.” 

Arabella practically leapt into his arms and he twirled her to laugh and a smile to return to her face. Seraphina looked at the two of them fondly. 

“I can’t believe how fast you’ve grown, mon belle,” Seraphina said, “Just think of all the fun you’re going to have at Hogwarts!” 

“I’m going to miss you guys,” Arabella said, looking down at her feet, hands playing with the ends of her skirt. 

“Don’t worry Ara you’re going to be just fine. You have so many of your siblings with you and you can send us as many letters as you want. You’re going to make a whole slew of new friends and you’re going to get to study so many cool subjects. I’m actually jealous! I would love to go back to Hogwarts! “ Ajax said. 

“You have nothing to worry about, darling, you’re going to have a great time at Hogwarts and we’ll see you back at Chaumont for Christmas. And you’ll be able to tell us all about the mischief you and your siblings are getting up to.” Seraphina teased, smothering Arabella with kisses all over her face. 

Ajax pulled them both into a hug, squeezing the girl his father had left in his care for the last time before she began her magical education. Arabella smiled as she was enveloped in the hug feeling like the luckiest girl alive to know how much her family loved her. When they finally pulled away she kissed both of their cheeks on both sides and they kissed her forehead before smiling at her and encouraging her to get on the train as the whistle for the last boarding call blew. 

Arabella scrambled aboard the train and waved to her brother and sister who were smiling at her from the platform before she ducked inside the train and began searching for a compartment. After walking down the length of the train and not seeing any empty compartments she decided to enter a compartment only partially full of students who looked not too old. 

“Umm hello! My name’s Arabella, would it be ok if I sat with you guys?” she asked. 

“Sure,” replied one of the boys, “My name is Theodore Nott. Are you a first year?” 

“Yeah,” Arabella chirped, “How about you guys?” 

“I’m Blaise Zabini,” said the other boy in the compartment, “We’re both Slytherin second years. Maybe you’ll get sorted into Slytherin with us! I know Daphne, a Slytherin in our year, has a younger sister in your year.” 

“All of my family is in either Slytherin or Ravenclaw so I’ll probably end up in one of those two.” Arabella replied, thinking about where she thought she might be sorted. 

“Do you have any siblings who are in Slytherin right now, Arabella? ” Theo asked. 

“Yeah, I have three in Slytherin and two in Ravenclaw.” 

“Wow, that’s a lot of siblings,” Blaise said, eyes widening, “Blaise and I are only children.” 

“That’s not even all of them. I have another two who have both graduated but were both in Slytherin too.” Arabella said laughing slightly about her siblings. 

“You have eight siblings!” Theo exclaimed, his mouth hanging open. 

“There you guys are,” Interrupted the blond boy from the bookstore, but now he was flanked by two bigger and beefier boys too, “Wait I know you!” he sneered looking down at Arabella, “You were in the book store, your brother was defending the blood traitors! What are you doing here?” 

“Well I guess you two already know each other, but Drake, this is Arabella. Arabella this is Draco Malfoy, another one of our friends.” Said Blaise, his eyes darting between the two. 

“Whatever, why are you here?” demanded Draco. 

“Well I was looking for a compartment and Theo and Blaise said I could sit with them.” Ara said, glaring up at him. 

“Well I don’t want to sit with you. Go find somewhere else to sit” 

“I can sit wherever I want!” Arabella said standing up and glaring up at Draco, who was several inches taller than her. “What does your family own the train?” 

“No, but we could probably buy your family,” Draco said. 

“I find that highly unlikely,” 

The last comment came, like a gust of ice-cold air from the still-open door of the compartment and Draco whipped around to find himself, face to face with Septimus. 

“Mon petit fleur, I’ve been looking all over for you,” Septimus asked, ignoring Draco. 

“Wait, you’re a Lestrange?” Theo exclaimed. 

“Yeah she’s my little sister. Why is there a problem here?” Septimus said standing up straighter and placing his arm around his sister’s shoulders. 

“No, you just might want to make sure she knows not to hang around with mudbloods and blood traitors. I guess that’s what happens when your dad’s in Azkaban. You don’t get taught the important things.” Draco said lifting his chin and meeting Septimus’s glare. 

“Dad went to Azkaban because he believed that purebloods were better than other people and thought violence was the way to go to prove it. That’s not an example we wish to follow.” Septimus retorted, “Let’s go, Ara, there’s something foul in here.” He pulled Ara close to him and guided her into the hallway of the train. 

“How did you get mixed with those pureblood prats?” Septimus asked as he dragged Arabella away from the compartment with the Second Year Slytherins. 

“I just wandered into a compartment with space and Blaise and Theo were nice, but then Draco came in and recognized me from Flourish and Blotts. He was just getting nasty when you came in.” Arabella said. 

“Well those are some of the most egotistical and close-minded Slytherins there are, especially Malfoy. I would try to stay away from them if I were you. Most Slytherins, especially the purebloods, think that blood status matters, but they’re usually not so vocal about it. You can hang out with me and my friends if you want, we have a compartment all to ourselves.” 

“Alright.” Arabella agreed, ducking into a compartment after Septimus, where she found herself immediately bombarded with a small explosion and smoke filling the air. She coughed waving the smoke away from her face and found Septimus’s friends in the middle of a game of Exploding Snap. 

“Guys,” Septimus said, “This is my sister Arabella. She had an unfortunate run-in with Malfoy so she’s going to stay with me for a bit. Now, Ara, you know my friends: Cassius Warrington, Graham Montague, Miles Bletchley, and Adrian Pucey.” 

The boys politely greeted her as she sat down in the corner next to the window, Septimus next to her and the other boys decided to stop playing their game and cracked a window to let the smoke out before lounging on the remaining seats. 

“Are Castor and Pollux playing Quidditch again?” Asked Cassius. 

“Is the world ending? No? Well then, yes, they’re playing,” Septimus said, “I even heard them talking with Ajax and our uncle over the summer about talking to professional scouts about coming to their games this year. They’ve already been in contact with the coach of the French national team and went to several of their practices this summer.” 

“Well then I guess Cassius, Adrian, and I will just have to keep being the reserve Chasers and wait for your brothers and Flint to graduate," said Graham, leaning back against the window across from Arabella, "Although this way we can just sit back, let them win us games, and then bask in the glory of victory, so I guess we can’t complain, ey Sept.” 

“Yeah,” Septimus laughed, nodding along to Graham, “I’m certainly glad I don’t have any interest in playing Quidditch because I would hate to compete with them. But at least you guys don’t have to actually play with the both of them like poor Miles here. Imagine having to practice against them constantly. He just gets pummeled with the Quaffle constantly.” 

“That's true,” said Miles, "They act like I don't exist until they need someone at the goals to shoot against and then suddenly we're best buddies!" 

Ara laughed at the boys’ antics, smiling at Septimus who leaned over and ruffled her hair saying, “ You gonna try out for your house Quidditch team, Ara?” 

“Probably not, unlike Castor, Pollux, Ajax, and Seraphina I didn’t get the Quidditch gene. Besides if I’m sorted into Slytherin it’s not exactly like there’s a spot on the team for me.” She said, tucking a piece of hair behind her ear and fidgeting with her school bag. At that moment Pandora popped her head into their compartment and chirped, “Hey Bells! The Prefects' meeting just ended and my friends and I were going to change into our robes before we started our patrol duties. Do you want to come to change with us?” 

“Sure!” Arabella said, grabbing her bag and standing up. 

“Hey you can’t steal Ara from me! I just got her, Dora!” Exclaimed Septimus pulling Arabella back into his lap. Ara laughed and struggled against his grip without any success. 

“Alright Septimus, you’re very funny. Now, may I please have my Belle so I can get her ready for Hogwarts?” Pandora requested a smile on her face, pulling Ara up out of Septimus’s slackened grip and steering her out of the compartment. 

“Alright Belle. Now that we’ve rescued you from the clutches of Septimus and his Quidditch cronies we can go change. By the way, these are my friends, they're all Seventh-Year Prefects” Dora said, gesturing at the three girls in the corridor. 

“Gemma Farley, Slytherin,” A blonde said with a smile. 

“Heidi Macavoy, Hufflepuff” The smaller of the two brown haired girls waved rocking on her toes. 

“And Angelica Cole, Gryffindor.” The last of the three girls said hello politely. 

They reached the changing room and Ara quickly found herself mostly forgotten as the Seventh Year girls gossiped about the other Prefects. Rummaging through her bag to find her uniform that Seraphina had nicely folded for her that morning. Pulling her school shirt over her head Ara felt her arm hit something, and when her head popped out she realized she’d hit the girl changing next to her. 

“Oh, I’m so sorry!” She said, eyes widening. 

“Oh it’s okay,” the girl with bushy brown hair said, “I’m fine.” 

“Oh good… My name’s Arabella, by the way, I’m a first-year.” 

“Nice to meet you, I’m Hermione.” 

“Are you a first-year too?” 

“No, this is my second year, is that your sister over there?” Hermione asked, gesturing to where Pandora was laughing with her friends. 

“Yeah, I supposed we do look alike, long wavy black hair and all. She's the Head Girl this year” Ara said, “But I think she’s forgotten about me.” 

Ara and Hermione finished pulling on their socks and shoes, chatting happily on the floor. 

“You know Ara,” Hermione said, “If you didn’t want to stay with your sister you could always come back to my compartment. I can’t find my two best friends, so it's pretty empty.” 

“I’d love that!” Ara said, tapping her sister’s arm, “Hey Dora, I’m gonna go with Hermione, ok?” 

“Oh, sure!” Dora said, grinning and kissing her sister on the head, “I’ll see you in the Great Hall for your Sorting!” 

Ara smiled nervously, before following Hermione out of the bathroom and towards her compartment. She spent the rest of the ride to Hogwarts in the company of Hermione and Ginny Weasley, the redheaded girl from the bookstore, who she quickly bonded with over both being the youngest in large families. But all too soon the train pulled into the station at Hogsmeade, and the butterflies in Ara’s stomach returned with a vengeance. 

“It’s gonna be ok, Ara,” Hermione said as they got off the train, “The Sorting Hat will know where you belong. Look, there’s Hagrid, he’ll take you to the boats the first years take to the castle. Don’t worry, he’s incredibly nice.” 

“Just come with me, Ara!” Ginny said, grinning and pulling her towards Hagrid, where the other first years were gathering. Before she knew what was happening she was in a boat with Ginny and a boy called Colin Creevey, who bombarded them with questions about Hogwarts and magic. 

“I’m assuming he’s Muggleborn?” Ara whispered as they climbed out of the boats and up the stairs into the castle. 

“How could you tell?” Ginny replied sarcastically 

The girls shared a laugh, Colin oblivious to it all, still chattering away, but then the doors to the Great Hall opened and everyone fell quiet.


	5. Sorting: September 1992

Arabella was sure that she had never been as nervous as she felt now, standing in front of the whole school. She had barely registered her name being called and as she sat on the stool she was sure that her face was white as a sheet. Then she heard the hat speaking in her head. 

“Hmmm… Very interesting, another Lestrange, but where to put you… A clever girl, with an agile mind, but also a determination to prove yourself, perhaps Slytherin?… But also very forgiving and kind. You always want to see the best in people don’t you, but I don’t think Hufflepuff is quite right. No, above all else, curiosity! A thirst for knowledge! And a love of books! Better be…” 

“RAVENCLAW!” The hat announced to the hall and the blue table, as well as her siblings in Slytherin, erupted into cheers. Ara flushed as she hopped off the stool and practically skipped over to the Ravenclaw table, where she was immediately pulled into a hug by Pandora and Romulus. 

“I’m glad you’re in Ravenclaw, mon petit loup,” Romulus whispered to her as the Sorting continued, “It’ll be nice to have more support for Ravenclaw when the Slytherins try to gang up on us!” 

Arabella giggled and leaned into her brother's side as she watched the Sorting continue and saw Ginny and Colin both get sorted into Gryffindor. Ginny smiled and before getting sucked into conversation with the students at the Gryffindor table. Ara turned back to the Ravenclaw table as the Sorting Ceremony ended and the golden plates in front of them suddenly filled with food. 

“Oh good, there’s pudding!” came a voice from across the table. 

Ara looked up to find one of the strangest looking girls she had ever seen. The girl was wearing radish earrings and had a necklace that seemed to be made of Butterbeer caps. 

“Hi I’m Ara, what’s your name?” she asked. 

“Luna Lovegood,” the girl replied and her voice had a dreamy fairy-like quality to it. 

“Well, it’s nice to meet you, Luna.” 

“You're not British. Where are you from?” 

Ara thought Luna was a little blunt but figured that she would rather honesty and bluntness than sugar-coated lies. 

“No, I’m from France. But my dad is British and went to Hogwarts, so all my siblings and I go here!” 

Ara spent the rest of dinner talking with Luna and found her a bit odd, but incredibly nice. Before she knew it Pandora was standing up and ushering her and the other first-years to their feet to lead them to the common room. 

The trip up to Ravenclaw Tower consisted mostly of the first years following Pandora with their jaws slack, as they followed her like lost ducklings, up the moving staircases and through the halls of the castle. As they wove through the castle, Pandora explained how best to learn your way around and how to get into the Ravenclaw common. 

“What has to be broken before you can use it?” The eagle door knocker spoke. 

“An egg,” Pandora said, and the door creaked open. 

The first years pushed around each other to get into the common room and Ara looked around the room mouth agape. 

The ceiling seemed to be so far above them and was a deep blue decorated with constellations, that seemed to actually twinkle down at them. The floor of the common room was filled with rich overlapping mismatched Oriental rugs, plush couches, and chairs in various clusters around the room, bookshelves covering the white stone walls, and there were two fireplaces on opposite sides of the room crackling happily. There was a small second floor of the common room that was really just a walkway with railings to reach even more bookshelves wrapping around the top of the room. On the opposite wall from the entrance to the tower were two sets of spiral staircases, one spiralling up to the right and the other to the left. 

“Girls’ dormitories are up the stairs on the right and boys’ are up the stairs on the left,” Pandora called as the twelve first years finally tore their eyes away from the common room. 

Right in between the two sets of staircases against the wall was a bust of Rowena Ravenclaw, her mythical diadem perched on her head. Ara glanced at it and subconsciously touched her bejeweled headband as Luna pulled her toward the staircase to the girls’ dormitories. Ara let her hand brush against the stone as her and Luna’s giggles bounced around in the staircase and in no time they had reached a door with a bronze sign on the front reading “First Years”. Ara and Luna exchanged smiles and they could hear the rest of their class following them up the stairs as Ara grabbed the doorknob and pushed into their room. 

The room had six four-poster beds three to either side of the doorway wrapping around two semi-circular couches which were situated around a heater in the center of the room. On the opposite wall was another door, presumably to the bathroom, and their trunks were already set in front of a bed. The room was similar to the common room with more rich rungs overlapping on the floor, but the walls were covered with tapestries with blue and gold themes. The ceiling was the same white stone as the walls and various gold designs decorated it, especially around the tall windows that had loveseats with dark blue cushions on them. Ara found her trunk in front of the middle bed on the right side and Luna’s was the bed closest to the bathroom on the same side. Ara flopped back onto her bed looking at the top of the canopy that was decorated with stars and smiled as she heard the other girls flopping onto their beds and giggling too. 

The girls quickly started unpacking and introducing themselves to each other. The girl in the bed to the left of Arabella was named Felicity and she was tall for their age and had beautiful dark brown skin and eyes. Across from Felicity was Ophelia, a quite pretty girl with short caramel hair. Next to her was Helen Dawlish, a girl who immediately announced her first and last name and swelled up like a balloon each time she mentioned that her father was an Auror. Finally, across from Luna was Cordelia, who told them to call her “Delia”, and was constantly messing with her pin-straight dirty blonde hair as they settled onto the couches to talk after they had finished unpacking. 

“Where is your accent from, Ara?” Ophelia asked. 

“Oh, I’m from France. I was born there and have lived there my whole life, but my father was British and wanted my siblings and I to come to Hogwarts and I was raised speaking French and English so my accent’s a bit of a mix.” 

“Is there a Wizarding school in France too?” Felicity asked. 

“Yeah it’s called Beauxbatons, my cousin goes there. Are you Muggleborn, Felicity?” 

“No,” Felicity scowled at her, her shoulders suddenly tensed, “Why does it matter anyway? Are you one of those purebloods?” 

“Well, I mean yeah, I’m pureblood, but I was just asking because I was curious if you didn’t know about Beauxbatons because you’re new to the Wizarding world or if people just don’t know a lot about the French wizarding community. I haven’t spent loads of time in England, see, so I just don’t know.” 

The other girls exchanged glances, but kept looking at her out of the corner of their eyes and Arabella couldn’t help but feel like she had said the wrong thing and was getting off on the wrong foot. Luna was still smiling at her though so hopefully she hadn’t messed everything up. A knock sounded on their door a welcome distraction from the now tense air between the girls. When it opened Ara was only slightly surprised to see her sister at the door. 

“Hi girls! You might want to start getting ready for bed tomorrow is a big day! Oh, and Arabella, could I talk to you in the hall for a moment?” 

The other girls nodded and drifted towards their beds and the bathroom, while Ara sighed, stood, and followed her sister out of the room. When the door had clicked behind them Pandora spoke, using French to keep their conversation more private. 

“You seem upset, are you ok? How do you like your new roommates?” 

Arabella sighed and then the words started to tumble out of her mouth. 

“Well I thought things were going ok, but then when one of them didn’t know what Beauxbatons was I asked if they were muggle-born, because I didn’t know if she didn’t know about Beauxbatons because she’s new to magic or if wizards in Britain just don’t know that much about France, but then the other girls took it the wrong way like I was being prejudiced or something and I tried to explain it, but it was all awkward and I’ve already messed everything up.” 

“Woah, woah, just calm down they don’t hate you. They just met you and even if there was one small misunderstanding it’s nothing that won’t be fixed after they get to know how nice you are.” 

“I guess… I’m just irritated with myself, I guess.” 

“Here, why don’t I ask the House-elves to bring you girls some warm cookies and fresh apple cider. I have to go on rounds for Head Girl duties tonight anyway so I’ll just stop in the kitchens before I start.” 

“You know where the kitchens are?” 

“Of course, you just go down the stairs near the entrance hall and you’ll find a bright hall with lots of food-themed paintings. At the end, you tickle the pear and it will turn into a doorknob. The kitchens are just behind that. By the way, Romulus and I's Heads' dorm is through the portrait at the end of the hall once you leave our Common Room. The password is 'Valois', so come by anytime,” 

“Thanks, Dora!” Arabella said and her sister wrapped her in a hug.” 

“Of course, treasure, I’m not gonna let my baby sister worry over nothing! I’ll head out now and the treats will be up shortly.” 

Ara headed back inside her dorm and got ready with the rest of the girls hoping that the cookies and cider would clear the air between them.


	6. Professor Lockhart: September 1992

Arabella woke with the sun the next morning, far too excited about starting her classes to laze about in bed like she normally might. She was the first up of her roommates and moved quietly around the room so as not to wake them up. She showered quickly before pulling on her school uniform as the other girls started to stir. 

“Morning!” Luna chirped, skipping over to Arabella’s desk where Ara was putting on a small necklace that her sisters had given her for her eleventh birthday. 

“Morning, Luna, are you almost ready to go down to breakfast?” 

“Yeah, I’ve got my earrings to repel Nargles on! You never know what’s going to be lurking in a castle!” 

“Umm, that’s nice Luna,” Ara said, “I’m almost ready!” 

Arabella slipped her jeweled headband into her hair, carefully arranging her long wavy hair around it. She took a deep breath while looking at her reflection in the mirror, pausing for a moment to relish in the nervous anticipation, before smiling at herself, grabbing her messenger bag with her school supplies, and followed Luna to the door. 

It took the girls a little while to find the Great Hall again because they were high in a tower and the castle was like a maze. The Great Hall was still rather empty though as they had left before most of the other Ravenclaws. The girls sat together near the middle of the Ravenclaw table and dug into the spread of breakfast before them. A few minutes later when their roommates entered the hall they sat next to Luna and Ara sharing shy smiles. As more of their fellow students trickled in for breakfast the Professors started to walk around handing out students’ schedules. Professor Flitwick bustled over to the First Year Ravenclaws. 

“Ah! Miss. Lovegood, here you go! Miss. Dawlish, Miss. Gifford, Miss. Eastchurch, here, here, and finally Miss. Rushden! Miss. Lestrange, Professor Dumbledore has your schedule and would like a word with you about it at the Head Table.” 

The girls exchanged glances and Arabella furrowed her brow as she stood and headed toward the table at the front of the hall. 

“You wanted to see me, Professor Dumbledore?” Arabella asked as she stopped, standing across the table from the Headmaster. 

“Ah, yes, my dear,” said Dumbledore, a bright smile on his face, “Your uncle and brother contacted me earlier this summer about your placement for Defense Against the Dark Arts class.” 

“Oh yeah, I think they mentioned that, but they hadn’t received a decision.” 

“Yes, well your uncle explained that your eldest brother has been tutoring you in the subject for the past few years while completing his Auror training. Ajax was one of our brightest students in that subject and after reviewing the material he says he covered with you I think it would be best for you if you were placed in the Second Year Defense Against the Dark Arts class. However, if you feel that the material becomes too difficult or Professor Lockhart notices you falling behind .” 

Arabella thought she must be blinding him with her smile as she grinned at him, her body positively vibrating with happiness. 

“Oh, thank you, Professor! You won’t regret it! Defense Against the Dark Arts is my absolute favorite subject!” She gushed. 

“Well, then here is your schedule, Miss. Lestrange, as well as a note for Professor Lockhart in case he forgets your special situation. I wish you good luck in your first year at Hogwarts.” 

Arabella took the schedule from Dumbledore’s outstretched hand. 

“Thank you, Professor Dumbledore!” 

She turned and headed back to the Ravenclaw table from which the other girls in her year were still watching her. She plopped back down at the table and found their questioning eyes all trained on her. 

“So?” Ophelia asked, “What did he want?” 

“Oh, well my brother graduated from Hogwarts a few years ago and went into training to become an Auror and since he was living with me after graduation he tutored me in Defense Against the Dark Arts a lot. So my brother and uncle wrote to Professor Dumbledore after I got my acceptance letter and asked if I could be placed in a higher level class for that subject and Dumbledore was just explaining that that was why my schedule is different than yours for that class!” 

“My dad’s an Auror!” Helen said, chest puffing out slightly and she sat a little straighter. “But he never tutored me, it’s lucky your brother taught you.” 

“I guess you won’t be in our first class then,” Delia said, “We’ve got Defense class first.” 

Arabella checked her schedule and sure enough, her first period was a study hall with the Second Years and her second period was Defense Against the Dark Arts, while the other girls’ schedules were the opposite way around. 

“Oh, well I guess I’ll just meet you guys at Transfiguration.” She sighed, “I’m going to go tell my siblings about my schedule. See you later!” 

Arabella stood and hurried down the table to where Pandora and Romulus were sitting with the other Seventh Years. She slowed down as she got closer, coming up behind them, and suddenly worried about interrupting their conversation. 

“Umm… Romy, Dora?” She said shyly, and suddenly all the Seventh Years were looking at her. 

“What is it, mon petit loup?” Romulus said, pulling Arabella into a side hug between himself and Pandora. 

“Umm, I just talked to Professor Dumbledore, and he’s letting me be in the Second Year Defense Against the Dark Arts class instead of the First Year’s one.” 

“That’s great, Belle!” Pandora said, “Have you told the others yet?” 

“Not yet. I was going to try to tell them before the first class period though.” 

“Well, you better go soon, the twins never stay at breakfast long!” 

“We’re proud of you, mon bijou!” Dora said, smiling at her little sister. 

Ara grinned widely and bounced off, rounding the tables by the entrance to get to the Slytherin table, almost running into Draco as he entered the hall. But she couldn’t be bothered by his glare and kept going towards her brothers, who had conveniently sat next to each other this morning. The rest of her time before class was spent with her brothers. 

When they left the hall Septimus headed off to Ancient Runes and Castor and Pollux walked with Arabella to the study hall room. However, when she got there Professor Vector told them at the door that since it was the first period of the first day of school and they hadn’t been assigned anything that she was free to go. 

With that Castor and Pollux needed hardly any persuasion to take her outside and amuse her with tricks on their brooms. In fact, they were having so much fun that they lost track of time and the twins only had time to point her in the direction of the Defense Against the Dark Arts classroom as they rushed off to Transfiguration. Ara hurried on her way, really hoping she wouldn’t be late for her first class ever. She hurried into the classroom to find Professor Lockhart lifting a book from Neville’s desk near the front of the class. 

“Me!” He proclaimed, but his exuberant smile was cut short as the door shut behind Arabella rather loudly. “Ahh, one of my Second Year students running a bit late were we?” 

“Well, I’m actually a First Year, Professor, but—” 

“Well, darling, then I’m afraid you’re especially late. Last period was when I was illuminating little First Year minds!” 

“No, Professor, I’m supposed to be in this class! I have a note from Professor Dumbledore.” 

“Is that so? Bring it here then.” 

Arabella hurried forward, thrusting the note towards Lockhart, hand shaking slightly. She could feel the eyes of the class on her and she hoped he would let her sit down soon. Lockhart took the note with a flourish of his hand, tossed his golden cloak over his shoulder, and read from the note. “‘Professor Lockhart, Miss Arabella Lestrange will be in your Second Year Defense Against the Dark Arts class rather than the First Year class due to special tutoring received before attending Hogwarts. Sincerely, Professor Dumbledore.’ Special tutoring? Who tutored you?” 

“My eldest brother, Sir. He’s an Auror in France and has been raising me and teaching me the basics of Defense Against the Dark Arts since I was seven and he was completing his Auror training.” 

Arabella said, regretting mentioning her brother raising her as soon as she had said it. 

“He raised you? What about your parents?” 

Arabella furrowed her brow as she looked up at her Professor as he clearly had no sense of personal boundaries. 

“Well, that’s kind of personal Sir,” Arabella said, standing up straighter, blazing eyes turned up at Lockhart, “But if you must know, my mother is dead and my father is Azkaban. May I sit down now?” 

“Ah, yes, Lestrange. Of course, sit down, sit down, my dear.” 

Ara released the breath she hadn’t realized she was holding and spun around to find the class staring at her. She ducked her head and hurried over to sit in the open seat next to Hermione in the front row as Lockhart seemed to realize that he still had a class to teach. 

“As I was saying! Me, Gilderoy Lockhart, Order of Merlin, Third Class, Honorary Member of the Dark Force Defense League, and five-time winner of Witch Weekly’s Most-Charming-Smile Award, but I don’t talk about that. I didn’t get rid of the Bandon Banshee by smiling at her!” 

He paused, eyes darting expectantly around the room, but all he received were a few weak smiles. He continued on though, unphased. 

“I see you’ve all bought a complete set of my books, well done. I thought we’d start today with a little quiz. Nothing to worry about, just to check how well you’ve read them, how much you’ve taken in.” 

He flounced around the room handing out the test papers before returning to the front of the class and proclaiming, “You have thirty minutes! Start now!” 

Ara turned over the paper and quickly realized that the questions he had assigned had absolutely nothing to do with Defense Against the Dark Arts or magical creatures, but rather was all unimportant trivia about their professor. However, she didn’t want to make a bad impression and set to work, though she was sure she hadn’t done particularly well as she didn’t remember all of these details from when she had read his book. When Lockhart collected their papers half an hour later, Ara tuned him out as he talked about the results, wishing she was back with Ajax teaching her. She only stopped daydreaming when he finally started talking about Defense Against the Dark Arts. 

“Now, be warned! It is my job to arm you against the foulest creatures known to wizardkind! You may find yourself facing your worst fears in this room. Know only that no harm can befall you whilst I am here. All I ask is that you remain calm.” 

Ara peered curiously at the covered cage Lockhart was hovering his hand over. 

“I must ask you not to scream. It might provoke them!” After yet another dramatic look around the classroom, Lockhart grabbed the cover and pulled it off. “Yes, Freshly caught Cornish pixies.” 

Seamus Finnegan, who Ara had met on the train, burst out laughing a few rows behind her, and Lockhart fixed a stare at him. 

“Yes?” asked Lockhart, still smiling. 

“Well, they’re not — they’re not very — dangerous are they?” Seamus managed to choke out in between giggles. 

Ara had to agree, although their shrill screams were irritating they were under a foot tall and bright blue, and overall didn’t seem like that much of a threat. 

“I wouldn’t be so sure,” said Lockhart, “They can be devilishly tricky when they want to be! But let’s see what you make of them!” 

Lockhart flung open the cage and pandemonium immediately erupted. 

The pixies shot forward causing students to throw themselves towards the floor, some screaming as the pixies started to rip their books, throw their bags and ink around the room, and pulled on students’ hair. Neville, however, hadn’t hidden under his desk fast enough though and he was lifted by his ears to hang from the chandelier on the ceiling. Ara heard Lockhart shouting in the background of the screams of her classmates, to round up the pixies, even trying to help himself with a spell that sounded like gibberish and seemed to be completely worthless as well, as it did nothing to stop the pixies as they grabbed his wand and flung it out the window. Seconds later the chandelier came crashing down in the classroom and was shortly followed by the bell ringing and students rushing towards the exit. 

“If you four could just nip the rest of them into their cage,” said Lockhart, “I’ve got a meeting.” 

With that he made a mad dash towards his office leaving Ara, Harry, Ron, and Hermione to try to freeze the pixies and get them back into their cage. 

“Our Professor is a nutter!” Ara cried, batting a pixie away from her stuff with a textbook. 

“You’ve got that right!” Ron yelled from across the room. 

“That’s hardly the thing to be focusing on right now!” Hermione called from behind a desk, “Besides, he probably just wants to give us practical experience.” 

“By abandoning us? Hermione, how do we get rid of them?” Shouted Harry. 

“Freezing Charm!” yelled Ara and Hermione simultaneously. 

The four of them trudged out of the Defense Against the Dark Arts classroom over twenty minutes later, well after the bell had rung for the start of the next class. Hermione was already stressing about turning up to Charms class late. 

“We didn’t even get a note from Lockhart for our tardiness!” 

“Calm down Hermione, Professor Flitwick won’t mind,” said Harry. 

“Yeah,” Ron agreed, “he'll go easy on us if we explain what happened.” 

“I suppose it’s too much to hope Professor McGonagall will be understanding?” asked Ara. 

Her new friends all cringed simultaneously. 

“Yeah, sorry Ara,” said Hermione, “McGonagall is not flexible with the rules.” 

“I remember when Ron and I were late for our first class last year.” 

“You’d better hurry,” is all Ron said. 

Ara groaned and ran off in the direction they pointed her in, it was only the first day and she already had a feeling she wasn’t going to be learning anything in Defense Against the Dark Arts this year.


	7. Slugs: October 1992

It turned out that Professor McGonagall was uncharacteristically lenient with Arabella that first day because she also had her doubts about Lockhart’s qualifications and once she heard Ara’s tale her opinion was only reinforced. Nonetheless, Ara had focused on doing all her Transfiguration assignments as well as she possibly could after that first class. This meant that she started studying in the Slytherin common room several nights a week so she could ask Castor and Pollux questions as she went along. Of her siblings those two were the best at Transfiguration and as their official Quidditch practices hadn’t started yet as they held tryouts they hadn’t started their routine of staying on their brooms til dusk. 

Their first practice was coming up that weekend though, and she was trying to soak up as much knowledge as she could before her first Transfiguration exam the next week. So Ara found herself camped out in the Slytherin common room that Wednesday after dinner. Castor, Pollux, and Ara had taken over one of the round tables next to one of the windows looking into the Black Lake, their parchment and books were strewn across its dark surface. 

“I’m rubbish at Transfiguration,” exclaimed Ara, slumping back into the black leather of the chair. 

“Don’t say that, mon fée” said Castor. 

“Everyone struggles with Transfiguration at the beginning,” said Pollux. 

“Once you’ve been learning it for more than a month it will make loads more sense.” 

“Besides, mon papillon, you’re clever, you’ll catch on soon.” 

Ara sighed, but smiled at her brothers. Castor and Pollux weren’t the siblings she was closest to, but it was reassuring to know they had her back. She honestly often couldn’t tell which twin was which because they are so identical. The only giveaway for her was their nicknames for her. Castor always called her mon fée and Pollux always called her mon papillon. She suspected they knew she couldn’t tell them apart well and were trying to subtly help her. 

“Thanks, I just really don’t want to fail my first test at Hogwarts!” said Ara. 

“I don’t think you have anything to worry about,” said Pollux. 

“You should really take a break this weekend,” said Castor. 

“You’re acting like you’re studying for your OWLs, but you’re only a first-year.” 

“You should come to our first Quidditch practice this weekend! You know, get a feel for the other parts of Hogwarts.” 

“I’m not sure…” Ara trailed off. 

At that moment Septimus stepped in the entrance to the Common Room, ran his hand through his already tousled black hair, and headed in their direction after catching their eyes watching him. 

“Cassius, Graham, and Adrian are completely worthless to study with when the first Quidditch practice is coming up. I can’t decide if it was more annoying listening to them discuss different Quidditch plays or when they were guessing which girls would come to watch the first practice.” 

“Well, hello to you too,” said Ara. 

“It’s funny you mention going to Quidditch practice, Pollux and I were just trying to convince Ara to take a break from studying this weekend and come watch the first practice.” 

“Well, Ara, if you decide to go let me know because I’ve already made several promises to my friends that I would go, watch, and report back on what they need to improve on,” sighed Septimus, “So you can come down to the pitch with me.” 

“I’ll think about it,” said Ara, “When is the practice again?” 

“It’s at eight on Saturday morning,” said Pollux, “It was originally going to be Sunday, but Flint got special permission from Snape to take Gryffindor’s slot on Saturday.” 

“I’ll let you know what I decide before Friday,” said Ara, “I should probably head back to my dorm now. It’s getting kind of late and I don’t want to get detention for being out after curfew.” 

“Do you want one of us to walk you up?” Castor offered. 

“Or you could have a sleepover with me,” said Septimus, “The beds in the Slytherin dorms are sick! They’re massive and bloody comfortable.” 

Ara smiled, thinking about all the sleepovers she had had with Septimus over the years in France. 

“Maybe another time, Sept,” she said, “I wanted to shower before going to bed.” 

“See you tomorrow then, Ara,” Septimus said. 

The twins chorused their own goodbyes and she shoved her books, parchment, and quills back into her messenger bag heading out. She was fussing with her jeweled headband, which had gotten off-kilter when she nearly ran into Draco and his posse bursting in the entrance to the Common Room. She had an apology on the tip of her tongue when he interrupted. 

“Watch where you’re going!” he spat, glaring at her slightly, “What’s a little Ravenclaw doing in the Slytherin Common Room anyway? Don’t you have your own?” 

“I was studying with my brothers,” said Ara, frowning up at him, “I’m not sure if you had noticed, but they happen to be in Slytherin.” 

Draco was not pleased with her talking back to him and scoffed, “Just go back to your own dorm, and be careful, you know last year we had a troll in the corridors and Peeves is always floating around, they could both easily snatch up a little first-year girl like you.” 

Ara made a face at Draco, before pushing past him and his giant friends who were blocking her way to the door. Her siblings had told her all about the incident with the troll last year, assuring her that it was a freak occurrence, as well as tipping her off on how to get rid of Peeves if he tried to bother her. She made her way back to Ravenclaw tower with no problem and smirked a little to herself as she quickly figured out the riddle and headed up to her dorm. Draco Malfoy knew nothing about her, and she was far more capable than he knew. 

Saturday arrived quicker than she expected and she found herself heading with Septimus and the Slytherin Quidditch team down to the Quidditch pitch. Ara was wearing a long-sleeved dark green sundress, white knee-high socks, a dark warm cloak, and her long black hair was held out of her face by only her headband as it danced in the chill breeze. They were just heading onto the field when the Gryffindor team emerged from another entrance dressed for Quidditch. 

“Were they not told that their practice was moved?” Ara muttered to Septimus. 

“Probably not,” said Septimus, “Flint likes to annoy the Wood, the Gryffindor captain.” 

It seemed to Ara that it was working, as the boy leading the Gryffindor team was steadily turning a rather curious shade of red. 

“Flint!” Wood bellowed, “This is our practice time! Clear off!” 

“Don’t get your knickers in a twist, Wood,” smirked Flint, “I’ve got a note.” 

Flint smugly held out the piece of parchment and Wood glared as he grabbed it from Flint’s hand. 

“‘I Professor S. Snape, give the Slytherin team permission to practice today on the Quidditch field owing to the need to train their new Seeker.’ You’ve got a new Seeker? Who” Wood demanded. 

The Slytherin team moved, seemingly in unison to reveal the smallest member of their squad, Draco Malfoy, who stepped forward, his ever-present smug smile extra satisfied that morning. 

“You’re the new Seeker?” Harry burst out, stepping forward with Ron and Hermione at his side. 

“Draco’s father also kindly gifted the Slytherin team new brooms.” 

The Gryffindors’ eyes all darted to the brooms every Slytherin was carrying, eyes bugging out slightly. 

“They’re the latest model,” boasted Draco, “Only came out last month.” 

“At least no one on the Gryffindor team had to buy their way on,” said Hermione sharply, “They all got in on pure talent.” 

Ara thought it was really quite remarkable how quickly Draco’s face transitioned from smirk to sneer. 

“No one asked your opinion, you filthy little Mudblood,” he spat. 

The reaction from both teams was immediate. Flint pushed Malfoy behind him to prevent the Weasley twins from jumping on him, Ara gasped and gripped her wand tighter in her hand, and Ara’s brothers grimaced but said nothing. The chaos was interrupted by Ron jabbing his wand under Flint’s arm. 

"You’ll pay for that one, Malfoy!” he shouted, and a loud bang came from his wand. 

The spell backfired though, sending Ron flying backward onto the grass. Harry and Hermione rushed over to him as the Slytherins snickered. Their laughter only increased when Ron sat up and tried to speak, a slug coming out in a belch instead of words. The Gryffindors all huddled around Ron, but no one seemed keen on actually touching him as he continued to vomit up slugs. 

Ara frowned at her brothers, who were laughing along with the other Slytherin’s, and pushed past Septimus and then the Gryffindors to kneel next to Ron. 

She made eye contact with Hermione, who was on Ron’s other side, and said, “Hermione, we’ve got to get him out of here!” 

The other Gryffindors looked skeptical at her sudden interjection, but Hermione just nodded grimly and they pulled Ron to his feet and towards the exit to the pitch. Harry hurried after them directing them away from the castle and towards a garden and hut close to the edge of the Forbidden Forest. 

“Where are we going?” Ara asked. 

“Hagrid’s,” said Harry. 

They quickly approached the house when suddenly the door opened and Professor Lockhart sauntered out talking condescendingly over his shoulder about his magical creatures’ expertise. The four of them barely had time to dive behind a large pumpkin to avoid being seen when he swept up the path back to the castle. 

“The last thing I want to do today is interact with him,” whispered Harry to Ara and Ron as Lockhart moved out of earshot and Ara had to agree with him. 

After Lockhart was gone they continued hurrying to Hagrid’s hut and Harry knocked on the door. Hagrid’s enormous frame filled the door as he opened it with a sour expression on his face. 

“Oh, it’s just you, I thought you mighta bin Lockhart back again. Come in,” said Hagrid. 

Ron promptly threw up another slug on the stoop, but Hagrid seemed unperturbed and simply fetched a bucket as Harry explained what had happened as Ara and Hermione plopped Ron into a chair. 

“Better out than in,” he said, plunking a bucket in front of Ron. 

“I don’t think there’s anything to do except wait for it to stop,” said Hermione anxiously, “That’s a difficult curse to work at the best of times, but with a broken wand—” 

Hagrid had started making them tea, and Ara watched intrigued as a large dog rested its head in Harry’s lap slobbering all over his Quidditch robes. 

“What did Lockhart want with you, Hagrid?” Harry asked, scratching the dog behind its ears. 

“Givin’ me advice on gettin’ kelpies out of a well,” growled Hagrid, moving a half-plucked rooster off his scrubbed table and setting down the teapot. “Like I don’ know. An’ bangin’ on about some banshee he banished. If one word of it was true, I’ll eat my kettle.” 

Ara stifled a laugh, looking over at Harry and Hermione, who had two very different expressions on their faces. Harry looked surprised but also amused, but Hermione had turned a little red and a small frown had taken residence on her face, and she said in a rather higher pitched voice than usual, “I think you’re being a bit unfair. Professor Dumbledore obviously thought he was the best man for the job—” 

"He was the on'y man for the job,” Hagrid interrupted, setting a large plate of treacle tart on the table in front of them, “An' I mean the on'y one. Gettin' very difficult ter find anyone fer the Dark Arts job. People aren't too keen ter take it on, see. They're startin' ter think it's jinxed. No one's lasted long fer a while now. Now tell me,” Hagrid said, nodding his head in Ron’s direction, “Who was he tryin’ ter curse?” 

“Malfoy called Hermione something— it must’ve been really bad because everyone went wild.” 

“It was bad,” Ara said angrily. 

Ron removed his head from his bucked and croaked, “Malfoy called her ‘Mudblood’ Hagrid—” 

He promptly threw up another slug and Hagrid looked enraged. 

“He didn’!” He growled at Hermione.“He did,” she said, “But I don’t know what it means. I could tell it was really rude, of course—” 

“It’s about the most insulting thing a wizard can say,” Ara piped up, and looked at Hermione sadly, “Mudblood’s a really foul name for someone who is Muggle-born. Some wizarding families think they’re better than everyone else because they’re what people call pure-blood.” 

“I mean, the rest of us know it doesn’t make any difference at all,” Ron said, “Look at Neville Longbottom, he’s a pure-blood and he can hardly stand a cauldron the right way up.” 

“An’ they haven’t invented a spell our Hermione can’ do,” Hagrid said proudly, making Hermione go all red in the face and give Hagrid a watery smile. 

“It’s a disgusting thing to call someone,” Ron said, “Dirty blood, common blood. It’s ridiculous!” 

“Most wizards nowadays are half-blood anyway,” said Ara, “If wizards hadn’t married Muggles we’d’ve died out.” 

Hagrid was nodding in agreement when he seemed to realize there was an extra child around his kitchen table. 

“Very true,” he said, nodding firmly, “And who are you?” 

“Oh, I’m Arabella, sir,” she said quickly, “But you can call me Ara, it’s very nice to meet you.” 

“And ‘ow did you get mixed up with these three?” Hagrid said, smiling fondly at Harry, Ron, and Hermione. 

“Well, I’m in Defense Against the Dark Arts with them, but I was walking down to the Quidditch pitch this morning with my brothers and their team to watch them practice when Malfoy insulted Hermione and Ron cursed himself. So, I decided to help them get him out of there.” 

“Are you a second-year then too?” asked Hagrid kindly. 

“No, I’m a first-year, but my eldest brother is an Auror and has been teaching me Defense Against the Dark Arts since he graduated and has been raising me. So, when I got my letter to Hogwarts, we asked if I could be placed in a higher level class. Not that it makes any difference this year with Lockhart as our Professor.” 

Hagrid chuckled and smiled at her and Ara smiled back. 

“Ahh, so you’re clever like Hermione!” he said and Ara blushed, “Now, I know all the Gryffindor Quidditch players, are your brothers on the Slytherin team?” 

“Yes, my brothers on the team are Castor and Pollux,” said Ara delicately, Hagrid didn’t seem like someone who was particularly fond of Slytherins. 

“You’re a Lestrange?” Hagrid exclaimed. 

“Yes,” Ara said shortly. Although she didn’t want Hagrid to dislike her solely because of her brothers’ house and some of her relatives' actions, she was proud of her siblings and wouldn’t act otherwise. 

“I’m sorry,” interrupted Harry, breaking some of the tension, “But, what does that mean?” 

Hagrid and Ara exchanged looks and Hagrid raised his brow at her as if to say ‘do you want to tell him, or should I?’ 

Ara took a deep breath before turning to face Harry and Hermione, as she reckoned that Ron probably knew a little bit about her family since his was also a pure-blood family. “The Lestrange’s are a very old pure-blood family. They’re a lot like the Malfoys. They believe pure-bloods are better than other wizards and in the war, they were followers of Voldemort.” 

“But you seem normal?” said Harry confused. 

“I wasn’t raised by the Lestranges. My mother’s side of the family and my older siblings raised me because my mother died of Dragonpox a few months after I was born, and right after that my father abandoned us to be a Death Eater full time. He’s been in Azkaban for almost my entire life, as well as my uncle and aunt. I never knew him, and even though my oldest brother, Ajax, had just started Hogwarts when my father was sent to Azkaban, he understood that our father had horrible beliefs thanks to our mom and her family. He had to keep quiet about it for most of his childhood whenever my father was around though. Anyway, since both of my parents are effectively dead to us our uncle and grandparents on our mom’s side have raised us, as well as our godparents, the Flamels, although they passed away over the summer— so, that’s my life.” 

There was a long moment of silence as they absorbed her story before Hermione said, “Wait, Flamel? Like Nicholas Flamel?” 

“Yes, Nicholas and Perenelle Flamel are really, really old family friends and tutored us when we were little in all sorts of things.” 

The Gryffindor trio exchanged guilty-looking glances, but Ara thought to herself she would dig deeper into that another time. 

“Well, you seem nice enough so far,” said Ron bluntly, and they all chuckled a little. 

“Gee thanks, Ron,” Ara smiled, “I know Slytherin has this reputation and all, but there are plenty of normal Slytherins who don’t believe in all this pure-blood nonsense. It’s just the ones that do tend to be the loudest.” 

“So you’re a Slytherin then?” Asked Hagrid. 

“I’m a Ravenclaw, and two of my other siblings are seventh-year Ravenclaw. Their names are Pandora and Romulus and they're Head Boy and Girl” Ara puffed up with pride talking about her siblings achievements. 

“Wait how many siblings do you have?” asked Harry. 

“I’m the youngest of eight,” Ara replied, and then took a deep breath before she rattled them off in order, “Ajax is the oldest, then Seraphina, they’ve both graduated, then Pandora and Romulus are the seventh-year twins, then Castor and Pollux are the fifth-year twins, then Septimus is a fourth-year, and then I’m a first-year! Pandora, Romulus, and I are the only Ravenclaws, and the rest are Slytherins.” 

“I’ve never had a problem with any o’ yer siblings—” Hagrid said, “Now Harry I gotta bone ter pick with yeh. I’ve heard you’ve bin given’ out signed photos. How come I haven’t got one?” 

“I have not been giving out signed photos!” Harry said furiously, “If Lockhart’s still spreading that around—” 

His fists had clenched on the table, but then he saw that Hagrid was laughing. 

“I’ on’y jokin’,” he said, patting Harry on the back and nearly sending him face-first into the table, “I knew yeh hadn’t really. I told Lockhart yeh didn’ need teh. Yer more famous than him without tryin’.” 

“Bet he didn’t like that,” Harry said, sitting up. 

“Don’ think he did,” said Hagrid, his eyes twinkling, “An’ then I told him I’d never read one o’ his books an’ he decided ter go. Treacle toffee, Ron?” he added as Ron’s face reemerged from the bucket. 

“No thanks,” said Ron weakly, still looking a bit green in the face, “Better not risk it.” 

Ara had to agree with him there. She had taken a bit to be polite even though she wasn’t hungry and it was like having her teeth cemented together. She finished drinking her tea though, as Hagrid said, “Come an’ see what I’ve bin growin’.” 

They all stood to go outside and Ara decided it was time to politely excuse herself to find Septimus. She thanked Hagrid for the treacle toffee and tea, who beamed and said she was welcome back anytime and agreed to meet the trio the next night in the Gryffindor Common Room to work on their essay for Lockhart. 

She headed back up the path away from Hagrid’s home and back to the Quidditch pitch, where she wandered up the stairs to the stands to look for Septimus. She found him alone pretending to watch the Quidditch practice, while actually engrossed in a book on wandlore. 

“How are you going to help your friends if you aren’t even watching them play?” 

Septimus startled slightly at her voice and looked up guiltily as she stood with her hand on her hip looking down at him. 

“They’ll be fine, besides they’re already good players, it’s just that they’ll never get any playing time unless Castor and Pollux get injured.” 

Ara rolled her eyes and sat down next to him, “Why didn’t you defend Hermione when Draco called her that awful word?” 

Septimus was quiet for a moment, looking out at the Slytherin team flying around the pitch, “Well, I mean obviously I don’t approve of that word and I would never call someone that, but there’s no point in saying something like that to someone like Malfoy. He’s been raised to believe he’s better than everyone else and it’s not likely that he’ll change his mind about that,” Septimus then chuckled slightly, “Plus Weasley cursing himself to honk up slugs right after? Bloody hilarious.” 

“Still,” Ara said, still frowning, “Hermione’s my friend, and I think the right thing to do would be to say something.” 

“You're just the family’s little moral compass aren’t you?” he said, wrapping an arm around her, “If it makes you happy I’ll try to discourage Draco in the future.” 

It wasn’t exactly the answer she wanted, but it was good enough for now. 

“About Draco, I don’t think we should lose hope in him completely. He’s just been told by his father how to think, but he’s not with his father now. I believe anyone can change.” 

Septimus was quiet for a long while, just holding onto Ara to keep them warm, until he finally spoke, “You always want to see the best in people. Which can be good, but I don’t want you to get hurt if the world doesn’t meet your expectations, so just don’t count on him changing, ok?” 

“Ok,” Ara agreed and settled in to watch the practice.


	8. Enemies of the Heir, Beware: October 1992

Ara was incredibly excited for the Halloween Feast. She had heard stories from her siblings about the decorations and all sorts of treats they had every year. Of course last year the feast had been interrupted by a troll getting loose in the castle, but Ara couldn’t bring herself to worry about that. Fall was her favorite season, and she loved everything it brought, sweaters, pumpkins, colorful leaves, and just about everything else. She didn’t even mind being the victim to practical jokes and pranks, as she felt it all added to the season. 

She was planning on spending her first feast with Luna and the other Ravenclaw first-years to try to get to know them a little better, as other than Luna she felt like she had been spending a lot of time with Harry, Hermione, Ron, her siblings, and Ginny, even though the youngest Weasley had been a little distant lately. 

So the night of the feast Ara found herself across from Luna and right in the middle of two first-year boys, Marcus Fenwick, who eagerly told her to call him Fen, and Omar Shaw, who was a half-blood and had an extreme sweet tooth for both Muggle and Wizard treats. They also introduced her to two of the other boys, Grant Page, who was very excited to find out her brothers played Quidditch, and Toby Lennox, who was the best storyteller she had ever met. She spent the evening answering tons of questions about Quidditch, having Omar try to explain what all sorts of Muggle sweets were, and listening to Toby regale the whole group with funny stories. She found out that the last two boys that Toby, Omar, Grant, and Fen shared their dorm with, Jason and Hugo, were a little stuck up and had become rather good friends with the other four girls Luna and Arabella shared their dorm with. Overall, the night was far more enjoyable than Ara had even been expecting and she and her new Ravenclaw friends left the Great Hall that night with the pockets of their robes stuffed with all sorts of candies, the lot of them giggling the whole way out. Ara was almost sad when she excused herself to find her siblings. Ever since she could remember they had celebrated Septimus’s birthday on Halloween night, instead of the actual date about a week before that, and this year was no different. 

She wiggled through the students all around trying to make her way away from the Ravenclaws to the Slytherins. She finally caught up to Septimus and his friends towards the front of the pack of Slytherins right as they all came to a halt. Ara couldn’t quite see what was going on over the heads of the students in front of her, but she did see Filch’s cat completely paralyzed and ominous red writing dripping down the wall. 

She felt Septimus tense next to her and she grabbed his arm, “What’s going on?” she asked, as he was considerably taller than her. 

“It says the Chamber of Secrets has been opened and ‘Enemies of the Heir, Beware’,” he whispered. 

“What’s the Chamber of Secrets?” Ara asked. 

“No idea.” 

The stunned silence of the crowd was interrupted as someone towards the front yelled out, “Enemies of the Heir, beware! You’ll be next Mudbloods!” It was Draco Malfoy who had pushed his way out to the front and Ara could just make out his pale hair and maniacal grin from where she stood. Attracted by his shout Filch arrived pushing through the crowd and falling into hysterics upon seeing his cat immobilized. 

“My cat! My cat! What’s happened to Mrs. Norris?” he cried, his volume rising and becoming more shrill as he fixated on Harry, Ron, and Hermione, who were somehow at the center of all of it. “You! You! You’ve murdered my cat! You’ve killed her! I’ll kill you! I’ll—” 

“Argus!” 

Dumbledore had arrived on the scene. He swept through the crowd arriving at the scene of the crime and swiftly detaching Mrs. Norris from where she hung on the torch bracket, several other Professors rushing in behind him. 

“Come with me, Argus. You too, Mr. Potter, Mr. Weasley, and Miss. Granger,” Dumbledore said. 

“My office is nearest Headmaster,” Lockhart said, tone a little too chipper for the circumstances, “Just upstairs, please feel free—” 

“Thank you, Gilderoy,” said Dumbledore, and when he moved the crowd parted to let Dumbledore, Lockhart, McGonagall, Snape, Harry, Ron, and Hermione pass, leaving Professor Sprout and Professor Flitwick to corral the students still crammed in the hallways back to their dorms. Ara found herself swept along with the Slytherins heading towards the dungeons and she clung to Septimus’s hand to avoid losing him in the rush. 

The pair of them stumbled through the Slytherin entrance right behind Cassius, Adrian, and Graham, heading towards the group’s normal cluster of armchairs and couches around the fireplace on the far left side of the room. They were soon joined by Castor, Pollux, most of the rest of the Slytherin Quidditch team, and some of the Slytherin girls in Ara’s older brothers’ years. Ara found herself crowded onto the couch, shoved between and partially on top of her brothers, as the Slytherins around her talked about the message on the wall. Someone had already unearthed their copy of Hogwarts: A History looking for any information of the legend of the Chamber of Secrets. The chatter around them seemed to agree that the Chamber of Secrets had something to do with Salazar Slytherin and that it was his heir who was supposed to be the only one able to open it. Ara thought to herself that this all seemed like a major cause for concern, but while the Slytherins around her seemed interested in the situation, none seemed particularly frightened. 

“Well, if the Chamber can only be opened by the heir of Slytherin to hurt his enemies, we should all be fine!” Cassius said. 

“Also none of us are Mudbloods,” Flint, the Slytherin Quidditch Captain, scoffed, “So we have nothing to fear from a true heir of Slytherin.” 

“Well Sept, are we still celebrating your birthday?” Castor asked, changing the topic from the Chamber of Secrets.” 

“I don’t know. This is the second year in a row something dramatic has happened on Halloween. I think next year I should just celebrate on the actual day.” 

“That’s a good idea,” Pollux said. 

“We can celebrate next weekend after Slytherin crushes Gryffindor in Quidditch!” Castor said. 

There were scattered cheers and noises of affirmation from the surrounding group, which turned into casual chatter blending in with the rest of the common room noise. Ara saw Pandora’s friend Gemma weaving her way through the common room checking on the different clusters of students as she went. The Prefect gradually approached their group and leaned against the couch next to Septimus. 

“How are you guys?” she said, “Sorry that this is distracting from your birthday, Septimus.” 

“We’re fine,” Septimus said, “We’re gonna celebrate next weekend after the Quidditch game instead I think.” 

“And how’s our little Ravenclaw?” she asked, smiling kindly at Arabella. 

Ara opened her mouth to respond when she was interrupted by the portrait nearest to them on the wall. 

“Excuse me, Miss. Farley, there’s two Ravenclaw at the entrance to the common room asking for you.” 

“I’ll be back,” Gemma said, rising from the arm of the couch, giving Ara a squeeze on the shoulder, and heading back across the room to the entrance to the common room. 

She reemerged from the hall only moments later with two familiar figures in tow. The Slytherins crowding the common room parted and stared as Pandora and Romulus walked through deep in conversation with Gemma and the other seventh-year Slytherin Prefect, Malcolm Ilminster. 

“Oh good,” Pandora said as they reached their siblings, “I knew you were supposed to be here for Sept’s birthday, Bella, but I wasn’t sure if you had met up with them before Mrs. Norris was found.” 

“I had only just found Septimus,” Ara confirmed. 

“Well, we came down to let the Prefects know what they’re supposed to do and make sure you were here since you weren’t in the Ravenclaw dorms. We’ll probably be heading back to Ravenclaw soon though if you want to come with us, Ara.” 

Ara made eye contact with Septimus, her brow furrowed, and he understood what she wanted. 

“Actually, I think Ara might spend the night here,” Septimus said, pulling his little sister into his side, and Ara nodded up at Pandora and Romulus from where she was comfortably squished against Septimus’s chest. 

“Alright,” Romulus said, “But I don’t want you to go back to Ravenclaw tower alone tomorrow morning, mon petit fleur. One of you three is going to walk her up to get her stuff and change before breakfast,” Romulus gave Castor, Pollux, and Septimus pointed looks while they nodded patronizingly at him. 

“We’re serious,” Pandora said, “Dumbledore and all the Professors are really disturbed by what happened. This isn’t something to make light of, even if we’re purebloods. You need to make sure Ara is safe. You know Uncle Louis, Nicholas, Ajax, and Seraphina would expect nothing less.” 

Castor, Pollux, and Septimus sat up under Pandora’s fierce expression nodding at her seriously. Ara felt lucky that she was not the object of her sister’s expression. Pandora and Seraphina were both generally calm and nice people, but they were two of only three girls in a family with far too many boys and they knew how to assert themselves and get things done. 

Seemingly satisfied with their response Romulus and Pandora both kissed Ara on her cheeks, promising to check in before class tomorrow before they followed Gemma and Malcolm over to where they had gathered the rest of the Slytherin Prefects. After they had left Ara remembered the candy she had nicked from the Halloween Feast was still in the pockets of her robes as well as her birthday present for Septimus. 

“I know we’re going to celebrate after the Quidditch game next week,” she said softly to her brother, “But I’m just going to give this to you now. It’s from Nicky, Ajax, and I.” 

Septimus accepted the gift from her and tore into it, “I see you went with Ravenclaw colors for the wrapping, huh sis,” he said, chuckling at the blue wrapping paper and gold bow. 

“You know I was actually going for the Valois family colors,” Ara said, jabbing an elbow into his ribs, “But if it annoys you then yes, it’s absolutely Ravenclaw colors.” 

Septimus laughed and finally unearthed his present from the offending wrapping paper. Inside was a small box containing a golden pin with a black crow set over a golden fleur-de-lis on a blue field. There was also a small scroll of paper listing several book titles most relating to wands and wandmaking. 

“Nicholas and Ajax found these books amongst the Flamel’s collection, but they’re rare and rather delicate so they’re in your rooms at Chambord and you can read them when we go home for Christmas,” Ara said. 

“That’s brilliant!” Septimus said, hugging Ara, “These sound great, I can’t wait to read them at Christmas! I’ll have to write to Nicholas and Ajax soon to thank them and I love the pin as well!” 

Ara smiled happily and offered Septimus some of the sweets from the Feast as she ate a Chocolate Frog herself. The common room was warm from the nearby fireplace and the lighting was dim, and Ara found herself yawning and her eyelids drooping. 

When she woke up she was back to back with Septimus in his bed in the fourth-year boy's dorm. This was something she was quite used to as she and Septimus often had sleepovers during the summers in France. They would stay up late talking, stargazing, stealing biscuits from the kitchens, and fall asleep in one of their beds. Ara sat up, rubbed her eyes, and slipped out of the bed. She was suddenly very awake and felt a deep craving for some comfort chocolate. It was a bad habit of hers when she was nervous or upset and it never failed to make her feel a little better. She tiptoed across the room and into the hall pulling the door almost all the way closed behind her. Ara didn’t want to get lost when she was heading back to the dorm after checking to see if there was any chocolate left in the common room. 

The common room looked empty when she first entered, but low voices murmuring in a corner alerted her to the six Slytherins in the corner. Draco Malfoy, Theodore Nott, Crabbe, Goyle, and two girls Ara hadn’t been introduced to were lounging in the chairs Ara and her brothers had been sitting in earlier and were eating sweets. Ara scowled realizing they were most likely eating her leftover candy. She cautiously approached the second-years and they stopped talking and stared at her as she walked over. 

“What do you want?” sneered the girl with black hair cropped around her chin. 

Ara took a deep breath and said, “Hi I’m Arabella, I’m in your Defense Against the Dark Arts class. Is there any chocolate left?” 

The two girls exchanged a look, grabbed the few remaining sweets off the table, shoving them into their pockets, and the other girl said, “Sorry, all gone.” 

The girls snickered as they stood up and faced the boys. The first girl spoke again, “Let’s go to bed.” 

The others except Malfoy stood up and headed for the door. Theo gave Ara a sad smile as he left and whispered, “If I had any left I’d give you some,” as he followed the girls across the common room. 

When she reached the door the first girl turned and frowned at Malfoy still sprawled on the couch, “Don’t you have Quidditch practice in the morning, Draco?” 

“I’ll be along in a minute, Pansy,” he replied, and Pansy frowned but disappeared into the hall. 

Ara turned back to Malfoy who was watching her silently and sighed, “Can I do something for you, Malfoy?” 

He continued to examine her as Ara stood, back straight and chin up, not going to let him unnerve her. Finally, he spoke, “Why do you need the chocolate?” 

“What?” Ara said, puzzled she didn’t understand this boy at all. 

“Why do you need the chocolate?” he repeated saying the words more slowly and enunciating each syllable. 

Ara rolled her eyes at him and crossed her arms defensively, “It makes me feel better when I’m upset.” 

“Why are you upset?” Malfoy said with a straight and neutral face. 

Ara’s brow furrowed and her mouth gaped slightly at his complete dismissal of everything that had happened that evening. “Why am I upset? Maybe because a cat was petrified, all the students were threatened, and no one knows who’s doing it!” she exclaimed, voice steadily rising in pitch as she worked herself into a tizzy. 

“You’ll be fine,” Malfoy said dismissively, “Your brothers won’t let anything happen to you and you’re a pureblood anyway, the Heir of Slytherin doesn’t care about you!” 

“Even if he’s not after me that doesn’t mean I’m not worried for my friends,” Ara said scowling fiercely. 

“Ah yes,” Draco said patronizingly, “Mudblood Granger.” 

“Don’t call her that!” Ara cried, flopping onto the far side of the couch from Draco, “And not just her! There’s also Colin, Fen, Delia… I don’t want anything to happen to any of them either.” 

Draco looked disturbed by her emotional outburst and sat up from his reclined position as she anxiously swept her hand through her hair. “Umm, well” he started brow furrowed, “I’m sure your little 

friends will be fine…” he trailed off uncomfortably and gave her shoulder a few pats that she assumed were meant to be comforting, but his discomfort made it just a strange experience for both of them. 

Ara suddenly felt tired, exhausted from the emotional evening, “I’m just going to bed,” she sighed and stood to leave, when she felt a hand pull her back to face Malfoy. 

She looked down at him puzzled and he reached his hand into his pocket drawing out a Chocolate Frog and holding it out to her. 

Her lips quirked into a small smile as she took the sweet from him, “Thank you, Draco.” 

He mumbled something back she couldn’t quite hear and she smiled at Draco once more before heading back to her brother’s dorm, munching on the Chocolate Frog as she went. Despite Septimus’s warning a few weeks before Ara had hope that Draco was a better person than he let on.


	9. Gryffindor vs. Slytherin: November 1992

In the next week, the story of the Chamber of Secrets circulated the school like wildfire. Professor Binns to his great disgruntlement was repeatedly requested to tell it to each class in turn. Professor Lockhart for his part attempted to make the students feel safe with reassurances that he would protect them. Every time he said it Ara had to bite her lip to keep from laughing and she always exchanged skeptical glances with Ron and Harry. It was hard to have faith in Lockhart since he had abandoned all practical lessons since the incident with the pixies and instead switched to dramatic reenactments of sections of his books, always roping unsuspecting students, especially Harry, into his productions. 

Defense Against the Dark Arts was Arabella’s last class of the week before the Gryffindor vs. Slytherin Quidditch match and she had plans to meet up with her new Ravenclaw friends to enjoy the sunny weather by the Black Lake before the weather turned too cold. She usually talked with Harry, Hermione, and Ron after Defense Against the Dark Arts classes, but they had huddled together in the back of the classroom and just waved at her when she motioned to the door. The behavior was a little odd, but Ara brushed it off as she headed back to Ravenclaw tower to change out of her school uniform and meet up with the boys. Once she had changed into some jeans and a sweater she bounced down the stairs to the common room where she found Fen, Omar, and Toby already waiting for her at one of the large window seats in between the bookcases of the common room. 

“Where’s Grant?” Ara asked. 

“Detention,” Fen replied. 

“On a Friday?” 

“Snape gave it to him this morning for something stupid in the halls,” said Fen. 

“I think Snape just didn’t want to have to clean up his storeroom after the week of classes and was just looking for any excuse to give some poor bloke detention tonight to do it for him,” said Toby. 

“He’ll be out for dinner, so we can meet him there,” said Omar. 

“Let’s go then!” said Ara. 

The group headed down out of the castle and onto the grounds. The weather was crisp but the clear sky and sun made it a perfect fall day and there were many clusters of students in the various courtyards and on the castle grounds celebrating the end of the week. They settled down on a grassy knoll overlooking the lake and Ara closed her eyes as she lay back in the grass enjoying the sun and feeling her muscles relax now that it was the end of the week. 

“Apple, Ara?” said a voice above her. 

She opened one and saw Omar holding a caramel apple out to her. Ara sat up and eagerly grabbed the apple as Omar offered the other apples he was holding to Toby and Fen. 

“Where did you get these?” asked Ara. Omar always seemed to have sweets of some kind with him, but she didn’t remember him carrying anything down to the lake that could have held the apples. 

“I made them in the kitchens during a free period this morning,” he replied with a shrug, “Since you told me where they were the house elves and I have become great friends!” 

“Well, they’re fabulous,” Ara said, smiling brightly at Omar. 

“Yeah, you’re a real wizard in the kitchen!” said Fen, green eyes shining as he chuckled at his own joke. 

Ara laughed at him while Toby and Omar just groaned. 

“Laugh all you want now Ara,” said Toby, “The stupid jokes get old fast when you share a room with him and you’ll be sick of them too soon enough.” 

“I’m pretty sure Jason and Hugo are already planning how to murder Fen in his sleep,” said Omar. 

“You’ll have to help me set up defensive wards for my bed, Ara,” said Fen. 

“I’ll have to write to my brother for some recommendations,” Ara laughed. 

“What? Is Lockhart not teaching you anything in your second-year class?” said Toby, nudging Ara with his elbow. 

“Not at all,” Ara exclaimed, “I don’t know about you guys but he’s been doing nothing but dramatic reenactments of his books since our first class.” 

“Oh yeah, the pixie disaster,” said Toby, “I don’t know if we’ve actually learned anything. The first class was just a ridiculous quiz all about him and since then he’s just rambled about random spells and things from his books without really telling us anything about them.” 

“This is ridiculous! Why on earth would Dumbledore hire someone so incompetent as a Professor?” Ara exclaimed. 

“No clue,” Fen said, “But I think I’m at even more of a disadvantage than you guys because I have no idea what Defense Against the Dark Arts, in general, is supposed to look like!” 

“I can teach you guys some basic stuff that Ajax taught me last year if you’d like,” said Ara. 

“That would be great!” Omar said, “I’ve been looking in The Standard Book of Spells at some of the spells and Lockhart hasn’t mentioned any of them. All of the spells he talks about must be from higher levels, not that it seems like he could manage anything harder than making green sparks or the Knockback Jinx.” 

They all laughed and continued to talk about their classes, all of which except Defense Against the Dark Arts they shared until the sun started to turn the sky orange and red. Ara had started to shiver and with dinner approaching, they started back towards the castle. Tensions were high at dinner with the Slytherin vs. Gryffindor game the next morning and the Ravenclaw table was caught in the crosshairs of the glares being thrown between the Gryffindor and Slytherin tables. Most of Ara’s friends were planning on cheering on Gryffindor in the game, but Fen agreed to cheer on Slytherin with Ara. 

Ara spent the night with Septimus again and the next morning they each grabbed an old jersey of the twins’ to wear for the game and Ara brought a Slytherin scarf and hat that she had nicked from one of her older siblings. They met up with the Ravenclaw first-year boys in the Entrance Hall before heading down to the game. This was her new friends’ first time meeting Septimus and she had warned them ahead of time about his distaste of physical contact. There were only a few people he allowed to touch or hug him, all of which were family, and as his closest sibling, she had more leeway than most. 

The morning sky was dark and threatening rain and Ara was grateful she had one of Septimus’s sweaters under Castor’s jersey. Once in the stands they sat between the Slytherin and Gryffindor spectators and Ara bounced with excitement about her first Hogwarts Quidditch game. Septimus sat quietly next to her as Toby, Grant, and she talked about Quidditch. Both boys had ambitions to play for the Ravenclaw Quidditch team and were eager to see their first game as well. 

The first roll of thunder of the morning sounded as the Gryffindor and Slytherin Quidditch teams emerged from their respective locker rooms. It had just started to drizzle and Ara shivered as the game began. Septimus wordlessly pulled her into a side hug and she relished in the warmth as they watched the twins grab the Quaffle and speed on the new broomsticks towards the Gryffindor Quidditch hoops. Ara had seen her brothers play lots of times in practices but hadn’t ever seen them play in a real game and she was thrilled when they quickly scored. 

Looking to see how Harry was doing she was surprised to see him whizzing around the field at top speed. Had he spotted the Snitch already? She hoped not. It soon became apparent though that one of the Bludgers was chasing Harry around the field and not focusing on anyone else no matter how many times the Gryffindor Beaters intercepted the Bludger. 

“Are Bludgers supposed to do that?” Ara said. Although she hadn’t seen that many Quidditch games she was pretty sure Bludgers were supposed to target everybody on the pitch. 

“No,” said Septimus quietly. 

“It’s like it has a mind of its own!” Grant exclaimed. 

“Definitely something fishy going on with that Bludger,” Toby agreed, nodding seriously. 

During the time she and her friends were watching Harry the twins with some involvement from Flint had scored several more times leaving the score sixty to zero in favor of Slytherin. The rain had also started coming down heavier and Ara wished she had brought an umbrella even though her cloak was relatively thickened and spelled to be waterproof. 

The Gryffindor Quidditch team had called for a time out and they seemed to be having an animated disagreement down on the pitch. Eventually, they took to the ever-darkening skies again and Harry, now left on his own by the Gryffindor Beaters, almost immediately started a complicated and dizzying array of dives, rolls, and turns as the Bludger continued to chase after him. The Slytherin fans had started to laugh at him and Draco too had sat back to watch and make fun of Harry’s acrobatics neglecting his position as the Slytherin Seeker. Ara’s brow furrowed as she stared into the sky and Harry evaded the Bludger, but with increasingly close calls. 

“No way Potter doesn’t get hit before this game is over,” Septimus said. 

As much as she wished for the opposite Ara couldn’t help but agree. There was no way Harry could keep up his maneuvering and find the Snitch at the same time and Draco was barely even looking for it so the game could continue forever! Draco shouted something else up at Harry from his position below him, that Ara couldn’t hear over the rain, and Harry froze in midair staring down at Draco for several tense seconds. He stayed still too long though and the Bludger smashed into his elbow. Ara gasped as Harry’s broomstick spun and he seemed to be barely hanging on with his uninjured one as the other hung limp at his side. He looked ill and Ara was worried he would fall off his broomstick. Then for a second, she thought that he and his broomstick actually were falling to the pitch as he seemed to dive in a freefall towards Malfoy, who had to dodge to avoid getting hit by Harry. Then Harry with no hands holding onto his broomstick swung his uninjured arm into the air grabbing the Snitch out of the air before promptly crashing into the muddy ground below and lay with his arm in an extremely unnatural position as the Gryffindors shouted with both excitement and concern and the Slytherins groaned and groused. 

“I have to go see if he’s alright!” Ara said and immediately went to push through the crowd of students in the stands. 

“Ara, wait!” She heard distantly behind her, but she was focused on her mission and used her small size to her advantage as she wove through the stands to the pitch. 

As she approached, she saw Lockhart standing over Harry with his wand out and felt her stomach sink further in his stomach as the likelihood of whatever he was going to do going well seemed slim to her. She could even hear Harry weakly protesting as Lockhart rolled up his jade-green sleeves. She arrived just in time to see Harry turn his head away as Lockhart cast his spell and Harry’s arm went completely rubbery. The Gryffindor Quidditch team, Ron, Hermione, Ara, and the few other students around all gasped and Colin Creevey started taking pictures until Ara pushed his camera down and silently shook her head at him. 

“Ah,” said Lockhart, “Yes. Well, that can sometimes happen. But the point is, the bones are no longer broken. That’s the thing to bear in mind. So, Harry, just toddle up to the hospital wing — ah, Mr. Weasley, Miss. Granger, Miss Lestrange, would you escort him? — and Madam Pomfrey will be able to — er — tidy you up a bit.” 

Harry got to his feet, stumbling since his balance was completely thrown off by the limp arm on his right side. Ron and Hermione both cringed away from his right side, Ron grabbing Harry’s left arm and throwing it over his shoulder so he could support him and Hermione gathering various bits of Quidditch gear Harry had lost in his crash. Ara groaned inwardly as she was clearly left with the unpleasant job of supporting his right arm and stepped forward to hold it so it wasn’t weighing Harry down. The arm felt incredibly unnatural and heavy and she couldn’t believe Lockhart’s incompetence. Ron and Ara half-carried Harry up to the Hospital Wing with Hermione hovering around them anxiously. Madam Pomfrey was less than pleased that Lockhart had bungled the spell and left Harry’s arm boneless and she hurried around grumbling about inept Professors having no business trying to do her job and Ara completely agreed with her. 

“I can mend bones in a second,” Madam Pomfrey fumed, “but growing them back—” 

“You will be able to, won’t you?” said Harry frantically. 

“I will be able to, certainly, but it will be painful,” She said grimly, throwing a pair of pajamas to Harry, 

“You’ll have to stay the night.” 

Hermione and Ara stood outside of the curtains as Ron helped Harry and his rubbery arm into the pajamas. 

“Harry,” called Ara from outside the curtain, “I’m sorry to run off, but I completely abandoned my brother and friends when I ran onto the pitch after you crashed. I’m glad you’re going to be ok, but I should probably go find them.” 

“No problem, Ara,” Harry said, “I’ll see you later!” 

“Bye, Ron, Hermione,” Ara said, waving to Hermione as she headed out of the Hospital Wing. 

As she closed the door behind her, Ara nearly ran into Colin Creevey, who was hovering outside the Hospital Wing, camera in tow. 

“Hi Ara,” he chirped, “Is Harry’s arm going to be ok? Could I take a picture of it before it’s healed?” 

“You know, Colin,” Ara said, “I think Harry would appreciate it if you didn’t take any more pictures while his arm is healing. He’s very uncomfortable right now and I don’t think he wants to have any memories preserved especially photographs.” 

“Oh,” Colin said, shoulders slumping. 

“You know what, Colin?” Ara said, “If you get rid of all the pictures you’ve taken of Harry today I’ll let you take pictures of me instead, tomorrow or next weekend sometime maybe. How does that sound?” 

“That’s a great idea, Ara,” Colin exclaimed, “I don’t think I have any pictures of you yet! It’s a deal!” 

“Great, Colin,” said Ara, “I’ve got to go now, but we can figure out when you can take pictures of me tomorrow morning, ok?” 

“Brilliant! See you tomorrow, Ara!” 

“Bye, Colin!” 

Ara hurried off towards Ravenclaw Tower where she found Fen, Toby, Grant, and Omar sitting on the large plush pillows in front of one of the fireplaces. She plopped onto a pillow between Omar and Fen and started shedding her wet cloak, scarf, and hat until she just had on her brother’s Quidditch jersey. 

“So, how’s Harry?” asked Omar. 

“Well, Lockhart was an absolute idiot as usual and removed all the bones from his arm so Ron, Hermione, and I took him to the Hospital Wing and now he has to stay overnight so Madam Pomfrey can regrow the bones.” 

“That’s disgusting!” said Fen. 

“Yeah, I had to hold the rubbery arm on the way up to the castle and it felt entirely unnatural.” 

“I hope it heals,” said Omar. 

“Madam Pomfrey said it will heal, but that it’ll be a painful process.” 

The boys around her winced and Toby said, “Do you want to go to the Great Hall for dinner soon?” There were various noises of assent from the boys, but Ara said, “I have to go change my clothes if I stay in them too long I’ll definitely get sick. But if you give me a few minutes I can change and we can go down together.” 

“That’s fine with me,” said Fen, and the others nodded along. 

Fifteen minutes later their little group wandered into the Great Hall and as she craned her neck to look over at the Slytherin table to see if any of her brothers were there she ran sideways into someone, stumbled back, and had to be caught by Toby. When she looked up to apologize she found Marcus Flint glaring down at her with Draco at his side. 

“Watch where you’re going, Lestrange,” he growled, a surly expression etched onto his face. 

Ara figured he was still upset about losing the Quidditch game against Gryffindor and merely mumbled an apology to him before speaking to Draco, “Draco, don’t worry about not catching the Snitch today. It was your first game, you’ll get it next time!” 

“No one asked for your opinion,” said Draco, glaring at her and then sticking his chin in the air and storming away from both her and Flint. 

Ara took a step back, brows furrowed and eyes sad. She had hoped that since he gave her the chocolate in the Slytherin Common Room it meant they were becoming friendly if not friends. She slowly turned and shuffled towards the Ravenclaw table. She sat down and the boys settled into the seats next to her casting anxious glances between each other. 

“Don’t worry about Malfoy, Ara,” said Fen, “He’s just a bully.” 

“Yeah, you were just being nice,” said Omar. 

Ara blinked a few times, sat up straight, and said haughtily, “You’re right. I was just being nice and if he doesn’t want to be friends then that’s his loss.” 

Luna ended up joining them for the rest of dinner which passed uneventfully and as they headed off to Ravenclaw Tower Ara waved goodbye and went to find Romulus and Pandora so they could all go down to the Slytherin Common Room for Septimus’s party. Ara was rather tired though and Romulus ended up giving her a piggyback ride as they headed to the Slytherin Common room, but before they arrived Ara had fallen asleep and the next time she woke up she was in Septimus’s bed. 

This is becoming a bit of a pattern she thought and she sniffed and wiggled deeper into the blankets as the sunlight from the windows along the top of the room. Wait, sunlight? Was it already the next morning? Had she missed the entire party? She poked her head back out from the covers and looked around the room, realizing that all but one of the beds were already empty. She was still wearing her sweater from the night before and she pulled it off and pulled on one of her brother's sweaters and a thick pair of wool socks both of which were a lot larger and warmer than hers. Still sniffling and cold, she shuffled out of the dorm and down the stairs to the Common Room, where she found all of her siblings. 

“Hey, sweetie,” said Pandora, as Ara flopped into the space between her and Romulus on the couch and face planted with a groan into her sister’s lap, “Not feeling any better, huh?” 

Ara’s only response was another muffled groan. 

“Do you want us to bring you some food and you can just stay in bed?” said Septimus. 

“What time is it?” asked Ara. 

“It’s almost 10,” Septimus replied. 

“Hermione and I are going to do our homework in the library after lunch. Can I just stay here until then?” 

“Sure, can we bring you some toast?” said Romulus. 

“Yeah,” she said, continuing to get comfortable sprawled across her sister’s lap. 

“Do you think it was because of the cold and rain at the Quidditch game yesterday?” asked Pandora, stroking Ara’s head, “Or is it just that time of year?” 

Ara shrugged. It was probably a combination of both, to be honest. She got sick very easily because her mom had been very sick with dragonpox for a good part of her pregnancy with Arabella. All the Lestranges were very anxious whenever she got even a little bit ill because she had gotten seriously sick several times when she was younger and had been bedridden for months at a time. It was during one of these illnesses when she was about four years old that her tradition of sleepovers with Septimus began because he would sneak into her bed at night and tell her stories and make her smile no matter how bad she felt. Ara could tell she was drifting off again because her siblings' voices were becoming less distinct and she felt someone lifting her and carrying her, hopefully back towards Septimus’s warm bed she thought. 

The next time she woke up Pandora was sitting next to her on the bed reading a book and stroking Ara’s head as she used her leg as her pillow. 

“Good morning again. Princess,” Pandora said. 

“Where are the boys?” 

“They’re at lunch right now, we’ve been watching you in turns.” 

“Thanks, Dora.” 

“No problem, mon belle. We brought up some toast for you earlier if you want some now.” 

“Yes, please,” said Ara, and she pulled herself into a slightly more seated position, but still leaning against her sister. 

“And if you still want to study with Hermione, I got your bag from Ravenclaw Tower and you probably have about half an hour before you would need to head out.” 

“You think of everything, Dora, thank you.” 

“Of course, now make sure you eat or I will keep you in bed for the rest of the day.” 

Ara laughed, but ate all her toast and took the mug of tea they also had for her before heading out to meet Hermione. She found her friend at one of the tables against a window near the back of the library. 

“Hey, sorry if I’m a little late,” Ara apologized, “I’m a little sick and my sister wouldn’t let me leave until I had finished all of my toast and agreed to take the tea with me.” 

“Not a problem,” Hermione said, “By the way, Harry might join us later too to work on Defence Against the Dark Arts, but he’s been a little off all day because of the Colin Creevey thing.” 

“What thing with Colin? I ran into him outside the Hospital Wing yesterday and he agreed not to take any more pictures of Harry while he was healing and delete the ones he’d already taken. Did he come in anyway?” rambled Ara. 

“Oh no,” said Hermione, “Colin was petrified last night and Harry was awake when they brought him into the Hospital Wing and he overheard Dumbledore say, ‘The Chamber of Secrets is open again.’” 

“That’s horrible!” said Ara, “I hope he’ll be ok, but what does Dumbledore mean again?” 

“I’ve been looking in Hogwarts: A History while I was waiting for you and I haven’t found anything that mentions the Chamber of Secrets being opened before, so your guess is as good as mine?” 

“What’s going to happen? What if more people get petrified? What can we do about it?” 

Hermione looked out the window and then down at her book and Ara couldn’t help but feel like she was avoiding making eye contact, “I don’t know,” she said, “Anyway, we might as well get started on the Defence homework.” 

“Sure,” said Ara, but she couldn’t shake the feeling that Hermione wasn’t telling her something.


	10. Dueling Club: December 1992

A few days before they were set to leave for the Christmas holiday, Ara and the other first years were walking out of their last class of the day when they came across a crowd around a board in the Entrance Hall. 

“Dueling Club,” Fen read off the board and Ara tensed slightly. 

“The first meeting is tonight,” Omar chimed in, “We should go!” 

“Definitely,” Ara agreed. Ever since Colin had been petrified there had been a secret trade in protective devices sweeping through the students and every time she heard mention of it or of Colin she felt very uncomfortable and nervous. She hated the idea that any of her Muggle-born friends could be in danger and there wasn’t anything she could do to protect them. Hopefully, this Dueling Club could help them get some skills to protect themselves if it came to that. 

They made their way into the Great Hall ready for dinner and plopped down at the table and Ara beckoned Luna over to join them when she saw her enter the Hall. Luna didn’t always eat in the Great Hall choosing instead to go to the kitchens where she had befriended the house elves, so Ara tried to make sure she ate with them whenever she was in the Great Hall. 

“I’m glad we kept working on the Fire-Making Spell in Charms,” said Ara, “I hadn’t felt like I had quite gotten it the last time.” 

"What are you talking about, Ara?” said Toby, “Your fire was the best in the class!” 

“I just liked being able to make a bigger fire,” argued Ara. 

“You guys should have seen her face when she was making the fire though,” said Fen, “I was sitting right next to her and she was staring directly into the fire the whole time and giggling to herself. I think she might be a bit of a pyromaniac.” 

“Oh, that’s a big word, Fen,” said Ara, “Are you sure you know what it means?” 

“It means you love fires,” he said smugly and the group broke into giggles. 

“Are you all going home for the holidays?” asked Grant. 

“Yeah,” said Toby, “I have to visit my dreadful cousins in America. I was hoping to stay here, but my parents won’t let me.” 

“I’m going home, but we’re just staying in London,” said Omar. 

“I’m just going home too, said Ara, “My uncle probably has some fun activities planned though.” 

“You live in France, right?” said Fen. 

“Yeah, why?” 

“My family is going skiing in the Alps in France and I was wondering where you lived in case we could meet up. ‘ 

“Where are you skiing?” 

“Someplace called Chamonix I think. It’s a Muggle ski resort.” 

“I live in the Loire Valley which is pretty far from Chamonix, but I can ask my uncle and maybe we can work something out.” 

Fen lit up with a smile and scooped another heaping spoonful of mashed potatoes onto his plate. 

“What about you, Grant?” asked Ara. 

“Julia and I had been planning on staying here or Christmas, but with the whole Chamber of Secrets thing they want us home instead.” 

“That makes sense,” said Ara, “I hope they figure out what’s going on soon.” 

“I’m staying here,” Luna chimed in, “My father is in Greece looking for Heliopaths and won’t be home until February.” 

The boys exchanged looks, while Ara gave her a soft smile and said, “That must be fascinating. I hope he finds them! Are you coming to the Dueling Club tonight, Luna?” 

“Yes, I think so.” 

At eight o’clock, they headed back to the Great Hall where a long gold stage had replaced the tables and it seemed like most of the school was gathered around gripping their wands tightly and chattering excitedly. Ara waved at Hermione a little ways off and groaned when she saw Professor Lockhart heading onto the stage in a ridiculous purple cloak. 

“Great,” she whispered to the boys, “We’re not going to learn anything if he’s teaching us.” 

“Although wouldn’t it be funny if Snape ended up taking him out,” said Omar, gesturing to Snape who had followed Lockhart onto the stage and was sneering at him. 

“Gather round, gather round!” called Lockhart, gesturing for silence, “Can everyone see me? Can you all hear me? Excellent! 

“Now, Professor Dumbledore has granted me permission to start this little dueling club, to train you all in case you ever need to defend yourselves as I myself have done on countless occasions — for full details, see my published works.” 

Let me introduce my assistant, Professor Snape! He tells me he knows a tiny little bit about dueling himself and has sportingly agreed to help me with a short demonstration before we begin.” Lockhart beamed down at the students staring up at him, “Now, I don’t want any of you, youngsters, to worry — you’ll still have your Potions master when I’m through with him, never fear!” Lockhart turned to Snape making sure to swing his cloak dramatically with him and bowed to Snape, but not without some excessive hand twirling. Snape in return barely jerked his head in Lockhart’s direction as they raised the wants in front of them. 

“As you see,” said Lockhart, “We are holding our wands in the accepted combative position. On the count of three, we will cast our first spells. Neither of us will be aiming to kill, of course.” 

“One — two — three —” 

Before Lockhart could say anything, Snape had cried, “Expelliarmus!” and Lockhart went flying backward off the stage and into the wall before crumpling in a pile on the floor. 

The Slytherins were laughing and cheering at their Head of House’s success, but students from lots of other houses including Ara and her friends and Harry and Ron were laughing. Ara even had to wipe her hands under her eyes to get rid of the tears that had come out while she was laughing. 

“I take back what I said, it was worth it to come to this just for that!” she exclaimed, trying to regain some composure as Lockhart stumbled back over to the stage. 

“Well, there you have it!” he said, still smiling brightly, “That was a Disarming Charm — as you see, I’ve lost my want — ah, thank you, Miss. Brown — yes, an excellent idea to show them that, Professor Snape, but if you don’t mind my saying so, it was very obvious what you were about to do. If I had wanted to stop you it would have been only too easy — however, I felt it would be instructive to let them see…” 

If looks could kill Lockhart would be dead several times over with the force of the glare coming from Snape. Unfortunately, Lockhart seemed to have some sense of self-preservation because he said, 

“Enough demonstrating! I’m going to come amongst you now and put you all into pairs. Professor Snape if you’d like to help me —” 

Both Professors moved into the crowd of students and Snape stomped over to them right after he split up Harry, Ron, and Hermione. He divided them into pairs: Arabella and Luna, Fen and Omar, and Toby and Grant; then he headed back up to the stage with Lockhart. 

“Face your partners and bow!” called Lockhart. 

Ara turned to face Luna and bowed twirling her hands around in an overdramatic imitation of Lockhart’s bow and Luna had to stifle her giggles as Lockhart shouted, “Wands at the ready! When I count to three, cast your chars to Disarm your opponents — only to disarm them — we don’t want any accidents — one — two — three —” 

The room immediately erupted into chaos. It was clear that many of the students were not aiming to disarm their opponents. Luna had tried to cast the same spell as Snape, but Ara had cast a simple Shield Charm which had protected her from being flung into the wall as Lockhart had been. But they seemed to be some of the few who had gotten through the first spell without incident. Ara saw Malfoy doubled over, tears streaming out the corners of his eyes before he fell to his knees, Harry’s Tickling Charm taking instant effect. Hermione was being beaten up by the massive Slytherin girl she had been dueling, several people were bleeding, multiple people were on the ground, and even Ara’s boys hadn’t managed to get through it with a single one still standing. 

Fortunately, Lockhart’s next idea was to teach them how to shield themselves from attacks, which seemed like a much better place to start. Ara couldn’t help but feel like something was going to go wrong though as Snape suggested Harry and Malfoy participate in the demonstration. Sure enough, while trying to demonstrate how to defend himself Lockhart dropped his wand. The duel started and Malfoy conjured a black snake that looked like it was going to attack Harry. Professor Snape stepped forward to get rid of it, but Lockhart had already managed to cast his own spell which did nothing but enrage the snake further as it was flung into the air and then crashed back down onto the stage. It turned on a Hufflepuff boy Ara recognized from her Defense Against the Dark Arts class and reared back to attack when Harry started hissing at the snake. The snake looked at Harry and then went limp on the stage, allowing Snape to vanish it. 

The room was silent. Ara stared at Harry wide-eyed. She had never met a Parselmouth before and she couldn’t believe that Harry was one. 

Finally, Justin shouted at Harry, “What do you think you’re playing at?” and fled from the room. 

Harry stood on the stage feeling everyone's eyes on him before Ron tugged him off the stage and hurried him out of the Great Hall. 

The Great Hall immediately erupted in whispers as the students tried to figure out what had happened. 

“Is that normal?” asked Fen, eyes darting among the others, “Can you lot speak to animals too?” 

“No,” breathed Ara, still staring at the door which Harry disappeared through, “Speaking to snakes is incredibly uncommon.” 

“People say it's the mark of a Dark Wizard,” explained Toby, “Salazar Slytherin and You-Know-Who were Parselmouths.” 

The six of them stood there uncomfortably for a minute. 

“But Harry defeated You-Know-Who!” exclaimed Grant, “How could he be a Dark Wizard?” 

“I don’t think he is a Dark Wizard,” Ara said firmly, “He’s my friend. Besides, it looked like the snake was about to attack that Hufflepuff, but when Harry spoke to the snake it stopped and just lay there. He was probably just trying to help!” 

“If you say so,” said Toby, exchanging doubtful glances with Grant. 

“She is the only one of us who is friends with Harry,” said Fen, “Besides I trust Ara, if she doesn’t think he’s a Dark Wizard then neither do I!” 

“Thanks, Fen,” said Ara, grabbing his hand and squeezing it gently. 

“He’s right,” said Omar, “I trust Ara,” 

Ara gave him a soft smile and Toby and Grant relented, nodding their heads. 

“Well, we should probably get back to Ravenclaw Tower,” Ara said brightly, trying to restore everyone’s good spirits, “It looks like the Dueling Club is done for today.” 

They wandered out of the hall with the stream of other students, most of whom, based on what they could hear, did not agree with Ara’s judgement on Harry.


	11. Château de Chambord: December 1992

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> While she is in France talking with her family they are speaking in French. However, the only French I know other than a few terms of endearment is how to order a crepe, so the dialogue will be written in English, but just know that it is really happening French. Thanks!

Ara hated travelling. The journey home from Hogwarts involved so many steps that by the time they finally made it to the main entrance of Château de Chambord, where they would be spending Christmas, Ara was utterly exhausted. 

They had taken the Hogwarts Express to King’s Cross Station with the rest of the Hogwarts students, but then they had been picked up by a Ministry worker from the Department of International Magical Cooperation, who escorted them to the Portkey Office in the Ministry of Magic, where Ara and her five siblings took a Portkey from the head of the Department of Magical Transportation’s office to just outside the magical barriers surrounding the Chateau, where they were finally picked up by carriage and taken down the long road through the gardens to the main entrance, where their uncle was waiting to greet them. 

“Uncle Louis!” shouted Ara as she leapt out of the carriage and into her uncle’s waiting arms. She was fluent in English, but it was nice to be back in France, where she could talk with everyone in French, not just her siblings. 

“I’ve missed you, mon petit fleur,” he said, “I’ve missed you running around the castle this fall.” 

“I missed you too, but I’ve made so many friends at Hogwarts and learnt so many new things!” 

She felt her uncle tense slightly at the mention of Hogwarts, but brushed it off as he continued, “Let’s get you all settled in here, shall we? Ajax and Seraphina arrived yesterday and Nicholas will arrive in an hour or two so we’ll have a proper family dinner tonight!” 

Ara finally detached herself from her uncle so he could greet the others and found her one remaining bag, as the rest had already been whisked away to her rooms. They headed through the gates to the front courtyard before heading into the main body of the castle. Their family lived in the main part of the castle which was also where the main ballroom, throne room, dining rooms, and library were on the lower floors while the royal family’s private apartments and other rooms for their personal use were on the upper levels. On either side of the main castle were two smaller castles surrounding the corner towers that were used as guest suites and the center of the French Wizarding Government. They were connected to the main castle by the outer wall, which surrounded the vast interior courtyard and housed the offices of many government officials or agencies. There was another separate building on the other side of the city of Blois, the city closest to Chambord, that was where most of the government operated out of, but the departments, as well as prominent nobility, also had offices at the palace, where the king conducted most of his business from. Blois the city was the largest city in France completely inhabited by wizards and it was protected from the Muggle world by various enchantments to maintain their privacy. 

This was one of the castles where Ara and her siblings had lived during her childhood and quite possibly her favorite. There were always various events, festivals, and balls that were hosted at Château de Chambord throughout the year, as well as having a library at least two times the size of the Hogwarts library. Château de Chaumont was her mother’s estate, where her elder siblings had been almost exclusively raised while her parents were still around. Ara had spent significantly less time there by comparison. The last was Château de Chenonceau where her whole family summered and where she had gotten to run, swim, and catch up with her siblings while they were on summer holiday. 

Ara flopped down in the window seat in the sitting room she shared with Septimus. Their rooms were part of the same apartment on the top floor of the castle with the entrance opening to a large sitting room in between their bedrooms. 

“When are Ajax and Phina going to be home?” she whined. 

Septimus laughed at her from across the room, “They’ll be back soon. You’ve been apart from them for months, another hour or two is nothing. Plus Nicholas will be back from Beauxbatons really soon, that should make you happy, he is your favorite cousin after all!” 

“He’s my only cousin,” grumbled Ara, eyes staring out the window and across the lawn to where Nicholas would soon be arriving. 

“I’m pretty sure that you’re his favorite cousin too though,” said Septimus, trying to placate her. She was not a good traveler and she was almost always hungry, crabby, and tired by the time they reached their destination. 

Septimus walked across the room to where Ara had curled into a ball on the window seat and sat behind her and put his arms around her. Her face was still pouting and grumpy, but she let him hug her and snuggled her head into his chest. They sat there silently for several minutes and the tension slowly seeped from her body as she leant into Septimus and her face muscles relaxed. Only a few minutes later she was asleep and Septimus summoned a blanket from the couch to drape over them as he continued watching for Nicholas’s carriage in the distance. 

Around half an hour later Septimus shook Arabella awake to point out the carriage approaching the castle. Ara jumped up and ran towards the door, dragging her brother with her. Whether it was the nap or the imminent arrival of their cousin Ara’s energy and good mood had been restored. The two raced down the hall calling out to their siblings that Nicholas was here and bounded down the spiral staircase to the entrance hall. They burst into the courtyard just as the carriage was pulling up, grinning and laughing. 

Nicholas stepped out of the carriage with the same ease and gracefulness he had always naturally possessed and his dirty blonde hair perfectly swept across his forehead and his usual charming-prince smile replaced with a genuine one as his cousins crowded to see him. 

“Now, now,” said the grinning 16-year-old, “There’s no need to crowd, there’s plenty of me to go around, no need to fight!” 

This didn’t get him anything but grief as he was tackled and hair ruffled until it was sticking out in all directions, but they were all deliriously happy and laughing as the lay sprawled across the foyer. Suddenly, two sharp cracks sounded in the air as Ajax and Seraphina apparated into the foyer. Only those who were of age and had royal blood were allowed to Apparate to and within the castle for security reasons. 

“Are we interrupting something?” Ajax asked, raising an eyebrow at his assorted relatives on the ground. 

“Nope!” Nicholas said, and promptly dragged them both into the pile. 

When they all eventually returned to their feet and brushed themselves off, they headed into the castle and up towards the private dining room where dinner was ready to be served. Uncle Louis and Aunt Elise were already sitting at the table when the kids entered but got up to briefly greet their son before sitting back down. 

“It’s not like you’ve even been gone!” Castor teased. 

“Aren’t you here almost every weekend?” asked Pollux. 

“Oi! Shut up!” said Nicholas, laughing, “I have a lot more responsibilities than you lot. You should consider yourselves lucky that you don’t have to be attending school and all the boring governmental meetings at the same time.” 

“I just remember that when Phina and I were at Hogwarts, we came home every other weekend every year we were in school so we could take care of you lot,” Ajax said, nodding his head in his younger siblings’ direction.” 

“Yeah, we had to get special permission from Dumbledore to be allowed to leave as well as Flooing through his fireplace to the Ministry so we could significantly shorten the travel time,” said Seraphina, “And it was completely necessary! Every time one of us came home it seemed like we were either preventing you from destroying the castle or taking care of Ara when she got sick!” 

“Sorry,” Ara said, ducking her head and blushing. 

“You don’t have to be sorry, mon belle,” said Ajax, “There was nothing else I would have rather done. I have no regrets about missing anything to get to see you guys more often.” 

The family was silent for a few moments, relaxed smiles on their faces as they basked in the contentment of being together and surrounded by each other’s love that made Ara feel like she was sitting in front of a fireplace as she felt warm and safe. 

“Now, what has been going on at Hogwarts this year?” said Uncle Louis, “The reports of the students being petrified by an unknown source is quite upsetting.” 

Pandora jumped in to answer, “Well so far those who have been petrified are Filch’s cat, a first-year Gryffindor boy, a second-year Hufflepuff boy, and Sir Nicholas. Both of the students were Muggleborn and the rumors are that Muggleborns are being targeted.” 

“The whole school is focused on the Chamber of Secrets and the monster left within by Salazar Slytherin,” said Romulus, “Which would fit with Muggleborns being attacked, but I have no idea who the heir of Slytherin would be if this is really what’s happening.” 

“I know who the heir is,” said Castor. 

“What?!” said Romulus and Pandora, rounding on their brother. 

“Yeah,” said Pollux, “Haven’t you heard that it’s Harry Potter?” 

Romulus and Pandora exchanged a glance and just rolled their eyes. 

But Arabella couldn’t help defending her friend, “It’s definitely not Harry! That rumor is utterly ridiculous!” 

“I’m just saying, Ara,” said Castor, “He’s a Parselmouth, do you know how rare that is?” 

“He is the only one in the school that we know of who has a connection with Salazar Slytherin,” said Pollux. 

“I don’t care,” said Ara, raising her chin and glaring across the table at her twin brothers, “Harry is my friend. He’s not a bad person and he would never do something like this!” 

“Got a little crush, mon petit fleur?” laughed Nicholas. 

Ara blushed but scoffed at her cousin’s remark, “Don’t be ridiculous, he’s just my friend. Also, I’m eleven!” 

“That’s right,” Ajax said, giving Ara a stern and appraising look, “You are absolutely not going to be having any crushes until after you graduate from Hogwarts!” 

“I have to agree with that,” said Uncle Louis and his wife shoved his arm. 

“Don’t listen to either of them, ma chérie,” said Aunt Elise, “You do whatever makes you happy.” 

“Speaking of me being happy,” Said Ara, putting on her most charming smile, “My friend Fen’s family is vacationing in Chamonix for Christmas and there’s a few days before New Years that they were just going to go to Paris or something. But I was thinking that it would be perfect to have them come to stay here for a few days and then Fen could travel back to school with us when his family went home! Isn’t that a great idea, Uncle Louis?” 

Her uncle looked at her skeptically while she tried to do her best puppy dog eyes at him. He asked, “Are you sure you trust this friend with our secret already? It’s still your first year.” 

“He’s my best friend in the whole school!” Ara exclaimed. 

“Hey!” said Septimus, “You said I was your best friend in the world!” 

“Fine, my best friend outside the family. Happy now, Sept?” 

“I don’t know,” Septimus grumbled, crossing his arms over his chest and looking away from her in fake distress, “It still sounds like I’ve been replaced!” 

Ara rolled her eyes at her brother before she returned to smiling hopefully at her uncle, “Please, Uncle Louis? This way I can meet his family and they can even come to our New Year’s Eve Ball!” 

“Well, I suppose if it’s alright with his parents,” said Louis, “then they can stay —” 

“Thank you, thank you, thank you!” Ara exclaimed, running over to hug her uncle, “You won’t regret it! It’ll be so much fun!” 

“Why don’t you go write your friend a letter, Ara,” said Seraphina, “That way he can ask his parents and they have time to arrange their travel plans if they say yes.” 

“That’s a great idea! May I please be excused, Uncle Louis?” 

“Yes of course, ma chérie.” 

Ara pressed a quick kiss to his cheek, said “I’ll be in my rooms if anyone needs me,” and bounced out of the room. 

A little while later she had just sent off her owl, Morgana, with the letter when the door to the sitting room opened and Nicholas walked in. 

“Hi, Nicky!” she said, “I just sent the letter!” 

“That’s great, mon petit fleur,” Nicholas said, “Do you want to continue our tradition or are you tired out from all the travel?” 

Ara jumped up from the desk and even though she was a little sleepy there was no way she was going to let that stop them from continuing their long-running tradition. “Of course I do!” 

“Well, that’s good because I already asked the kitchen to have the hot chocolate and cookies waiting on the roof!” 

Nicholas grinned down at his littlest cousin as she grabbed his hand and they headed up to the roof. For as long as he could remember on the first night that they were together again after being apart for school or travel they would go to the roof of the castle, eat cookies, and watch the stars together. Ara loved when Nicholas told her the stories of the different constellations and it was thanks to him that she had been doing so well in her Astronomy class that fall. 

Two hours later, after drinking the rich hot chocolate, eating Ara’s favorite Christmas cookie, and hearing all about her first year at Hogwarts so far, Nicholas was carrying Ara down to her room after she had fallen asleep in his lap. He pushed open the door to the sitting room and found the rest of his cousins lounging on the floor in front of the fireplace and playing cards. They all smiled at him and waved silently as he carried Ara into her bedroom and tucked her into her bed. After kissing her forehead, Nicholas joined the rest of his cousins around the fireplace. 

“So, she’s really doing well so far?” he asked. 

“Yeah,” said Septimus, “She’s made some friends, seems to be doing fine in her classes, although she complains that Lockhart is a worthless Professor, and she’s only been sick once so far and she didn’t even need to go to the Hospital Wing.” 

“Good,” said Ajax, “I can’t believe she’s grown up so fast and is at Hogwarts now.” 

“I’m glad she’s doing well though,” said Seraphina, then gestured to her siblings still in school, “Just make sure you keep an eye on her with this petrifying thing going on. I know we’re purebloods so if the pattern is continued she shouldn’t be in any danger, but I just want to be sure that she’s safe.” 

“I don’t know if you had heard yet,” said Nicholas, “But my father is questioning whether or not you all should go back to Hogwarts for the rest of the year or just transfer to Beauxbatons to finish the year with no danger.” 

Pandora, Romulus, Castor, Pollux, and Septimus all started to protest, but Nicholas just held up his hands in surrender and said, “I’m just telling you what he said. If you want to go back just make sure to convince him that you’ll be safe there. The last thing he wants is for anything to happen to any of you.” 

The room fell silent except for the fire crackling in the hearth. 

“Everything will work out,” said Pandora, “let’s just enjoy this holiday and getting to be together again.” 

The group all nodded their agreement and slowly filtered out of the rooms and off to bed, all happy to be home once again.


	12. Christmas and Confessions: December 1992

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> For anyone it may interest, I've been absentee for a while because I've been spending all my time road-tripping to and then hiking in Colorado. I'm just now getting back to normal life and writing so hopefully, I'll be able to return to my previous schedule of updates at the beginning of the week (Sunday/Monday).

The Christmas holidays passed quickly with only a couple of royal duties to perform and Ara’s family spent as much time together as possible. They had epic snowball fights in the garden, even convincing Uncle Louis to join them, baked enough cookies to supply a small army, and decorated the massive Christmas tree in the Entrance Hall.

Two days before New Year’s Day, Ara was sitting in a small coffee shop in Blois waiting for Fen and his family to arrive. In her letter, she had told him to have his family meet her there so they wouldn’t have to find the castle and get through the security on their own. She also figured this would give her a chance to explain her secret on their way from Blois to the castle.

She had settled herself at a table next to the front window with a hot chocolate and a book to wait for them. Her two security guards, Helena and Alexandre, who accompanied her out whenever she was in France were at the table right next to her. Arabella could feel the eyes on her from the other patrons as they whispered to each other about her presence. Ara, her siblings, and Nicholas always attracted attention when they went into Blois and it amused Ara to no end that they were recognized all across Wizarding France, but whenever the siblings were in Britain no one knew who they were or only associated them with the Lestranges in Azkaban. Education about other magical countries was almost nonexistent in Britain so while adults had probably heard of her uncle they didn’t know anything else about the French Wizarding Government.

Suddenly Ara heard tapping on the glass and she looked up to see Fen smiling in at her. She jumped up, grin covering her face, and ran towards the door of the shop, completely ignoring Helena and Alexandre as they tried to call for her to wait for them. Ara burst out the door into the cold, realized she had left her coat on her chair inside but didn’t care as she nearly tackled Fen in a hug.

“It’s been far too long!” she cried, “How was your Christmas?”

“It’s only been a week, Ara!” Fen said, grinning back at her and laughing, “But Chamonix was brilliant! You should come skiing with us the next time we go!”

“Only if it was ok with your parents and my aunt and uncle,” said Ara.

“Oh, yeah,” said Fen, finally letting go of the hug and for the first time Ara truly noticed the four people standing behind him, “This is my family!”

“So nice to meet one of Marcus’s new magical friends!” gushed his mum, sweeping Ara into a hug. Ara could see Helena and Alexandre tense and move to step forward, but she shot them a glare and they stayed where they were.

“I’m Jessie and this is my husband Tom!”

“Pleased to meet you,” said Ara, shaking Fen’s dad’s hand, “I’m Arabella!”

“And then this is Darcy and Edmund,” finished Fen pointing out the older blonde girl and the younger dark brown-haired boy with freckles.

“Well, it’s so great to have you all here!” said Ara, “Anyway do you guys want any coffee or tea before we head over to my — house?”

Ara could hear Alexandre snort from behind her as she hesitated before saying house.

“Oh, and are these your aunt and uncle?” asked Jessie.

Now Alexandre laughed, “No madame, we’re just — babysitting her while she’s in the city.”

“Yes,” said Ara, “This is Helena and Alexandre. They’ll also be the ones driving us to my house.”

“Well it’s lovely to meet you,” said Jessie, “And I think we’re good to head right to your house!”

Ara could tell she was going to like Fen’s mum already.

“Great!” said Ara, “I just need to grab my book and —”

“I have them here,” said Helena, handing them over, “The car’s right around the corner.”

Ara grabbed one of Fen’s bags and said, “So, Mrs. Jessie, I heard you call him Marcus. Does he only use his nickname at school?”

“What nickname?” asked Jessie.

They both looked at Fen.

“Well, he just goes by Fen at Hogwarts,” said Ara.

“Well, I just had never had a nickname,” Fen jumped in, babbling and eyes darting between his parents and Ara, “And I thought since it was a brand new school and nobody knew me that if I just introduced myself by a nickname, then I could have one! So, so — I just introduced myself as Fen and now that’s what everyone calls me.”

“That’s the weirdest thing I’ve ever heard,” said Darcy, speaking up for the first time.

Fen looked like he was going to argue back at her when they rounded the corner and the Fenwicks saw the limousine parked there.

“Arabella,” said Fen slowly, “Why is your car a limo?”

Ara just blushed and said, “I’ll explain on the way, let’s just get in and out of the cold first, yeah?”

Five minutes later they had loaded all the luggage into the car and were quickly leaving the city limits of Blois. The Fenwicks were alternating between exchanging startled looks with each other and looking wide-eyed at Arabella, so she figured she should probably explain everything to them.

Ara sighed, pulled water out of the minifridge, and took a long sip before saying, “So, because you’re Muggles I’m not sure how much you know about the British Wizarding Government, but basically it’s led by a Minister of Magic, who is elected kind of like the Muggle Prime Minister,”

“Ara, why are you telling us about the British Wizarding Government?” asked Fen, “What does that have to do with you having a limo?”

“I’m getting to that,” said Ara, “So, in France, we don’t have a Minister of Magic because we have a monarchy with a king who heads the Ministry of Magic and our current king is King Louis XVIII. King Louis also happens to be my Uncle Louis. My mum was his younger sister and she married a British wizard and had me and my siblings. So, when my mum died right after I was born and then my father promptly got himself locked up in Azkaban, the wizard prison. For life. So our Uncle Louis took us in and has been raising us ever since.”

There was a deafening silence in the car as they all absorbed what Arabella had just said.

Finally, Fen spoke up, “Wait, wait, wait. Hold on just a minute. So you’re a princess? And all your siblings are princes and princesses?”

“That’s right.”

“How does no one at Hogwarts know about this?”

“Well, before he went to Azkaban my father insisted that my oldest brother who was starting school that year go to Hogwarts rather than Beauxbatons, the French wizarding school. But to keep us safe and let us have a normal school experience, my uncle talked to Professor Dumbledore and arranged it so that, while the Professors all know who we are, the only way any students will know is if we tell them ourselves. Also, British wizarding education about other magical countries is appalling so most adults don’t even know that we’re royalty either unless we use our real last name, Valois-Lestrange.”

“That’s insane,” said Fen, the rest of his family still speechless, “And you’re telling me?”

“Well, yeah, if you were going to stay with and meet my family it would become obvious pretty quickly that we’re not exactly ordinary. Plus you’re my best friend, I trust you!”

“Do I have to keep this a secret from Toby, Omar, and Grant, then?”

“For now. I’ll probably tell them before the beginning of next year. I just feel like it’s a kind of big thing to spring on someone without any proof, but maybe I’ll invent you all down to our summer castle for a bit and tell them then.”

“That would be great! You shouldn’t tell them before they arrive and just have a car pick them up from wherever and just drop them off at the castle with no explanation.”

Ara laughed, “We’ll have to see!”

“So, wait,” said Darcy, “Are we going to a castle right now?”

“Yes,” said Ara.

“And we’re going to be staying in the castle?”

“Yes, we’ve had four bedrooms in the Guest Wing made ready for you.”

Then Jessie asked, “And the party you’re uncle’s hosting on New Year’s Eve? Is that —”

“It’s our annual New Year’s Eve Ball, there will be all sorts of people there, but there’s great food, activities, and music so it should still be fun even if you don’t know anyone except my family! Oh, and don’t worry about having fancy clothes. I told the tailor and seamstress that you might need suits, dresses, or just some accessories, so if you need anything we can just go and pay them a visit! They’re lovely people!”

It was at that moment that the limo emerged from the woods and onto the drive leading up to the castle. Once again the Fenwicks were gawking at the sight before them.

“This is Château de Chambord,” said Ara, “It’s our main castle and also has a lot of Ministry officials and other government stuff.”

Ara did have to admit that with a nice layer of undisturbed snow on the lawns leading up the castle it did look particularly splendid right now. The limo pulled up to the entrance and Ara pulled Fen out into the cold.

Fen stood in front of the massive oak doors and his eyes followed the castle up into the air until he couldn’t tilt his head back any further, “I must be dreaming. There’s no way that this is your house. There’s no way that you’re a princess and your uncle is the KING of a whole bloody country. This must be my imagination.”

Ara pinched his cheek as it was one of the few patches of skin not bundled up in coats and he yelped, swatting her hand away from his face.

“Well, I don’t think you’re dreaming,” she said, “Although I guess I could still be your imagination, but would your imaginary friend pinch you?”

“Probably not,” said Fen, “But if I’ve imagined you, you’re the craziest thing I’ve ever come up with.”

“Thanks,” said Ara, then paused, “I think — Can I show you to your rooms and give you a tour of the castle?”

Fen’s parents were still in a state of shock and just nodded numbly before reaching for their bags only to discover they were already floating off without them.

Ara laughed and led them up the stairs, after the bags. They went up the spiral staircase and then headed down the hall to the right until they reached the East Wing and the suite of rooms for the Fenwick’s to use. After they dropped off the bags, Ara led them back to the main hall and then through the Great Hall, ballrooms, over to the large council room of the French Government in the West Wing, down to meet Eleanor the seamstress and Phillipe the tailor, and finally up to her and Septimus’s apartments and then the roof. From the roof, Ara could see the carriages and limousines of various nobles and politicians arriving as well as her siblings and cousin playing a game of Quidditch on the front lawn.

“They said they’d wait for me,” Ara cried, “They said we could play with them after lunch, Fen.”

“Maybe they’ll play again with us after lunch, Ara,” said Fen, squeezing Ara’s hand, “Speaking of which, when’s lunch? I’m starving!”

Ara laughed, “Well it should be —”

The castle bells cut her off as they began tolling and they all quickly covered their ears.

“Just about now!”

The noon bell was also the fifteen-minute warning bell before lunch so Fen’s parents and siblings hurried back to their rooms to change out of the clothes they travelled in, now that they knew they were going to be meeting the king at lunch. Fen and Ara headed down to the Great Hall which was still fabulously decorated from their Christmas Feast and Ara led Fen up to the Head Table where her family was goofing around.

Dinner was a pleasant affair with Fen’s parents and Ara’s family getting on splendidly. King Louis was almost embarrassingly curious about the Muggle world, leaning so far over the table towards the Fenwicks that his tie almost dipped into his soup with his almost constant nodding. Fortunately, Fen seemed equally embarrassed as his parents marveled at the casual magic happening around them. The two spent the dinner alternating between talking with Ara’s siblings and Nicholas and rolling their eyes and giggling at the adults. Eventually, the talk turned to Hogwarts and everything that was happening that year.

“Are petrifications a normal wizard disease?” Jessie asked, “We’ve received Dumbledore’s letters about it, but I just don’t quite understand exactly what’s happening.”

“It’s actually not normal at all,” said Louis, “It’s caused by Advanced Magic or some magical creatures, neither of which should be in Hogwarts.”

“So this hasn’t happened before?” Jessie asked.

By this point, all the other conversations at the Head Table had quieted and the kids were all listening eagerly to the conversation.

“It has happened once before about fifty years ago. I don’t know much about it because I wasn’t born and none of the royal family had gone to Hogwarts before, but the pattern seems to be the same. The targets have been Muggleborns, they’ve been petrified, and it's said the Chamber of Secrets is involved. Last time though they only ended after a girl was killed and the person responsible was caught, but no one knows who it is this time.

Fen’s siblings had their jaws hanging open and his parents seemed equally shocked, but were also glancing repeatedly at Fen.

“Marcus is a Muggleborn, yes?” Fen’s dad, Tom, asked.

“Yes, he is,” Louis said.

Fen’s mother rounded on Fen in anger, “Did you know that you were a possible target in this?”

“Well, yes,” he replied, “But Mum there are loads of Muggleborns at Hogwarts.”

“And you said nothing about this when you got home?” Jessie’s face was growing a rather shocking shade of red and her eyes seemed to be drilling into Fen as he sunk in his seat. “How can you expect us to let you go back to school where your life is in danger?”

“If it makes a difference, I’m letting my six nieces and nephews return to Hogwarts for the spring term,” Louis said and Jessie deflated and looked less like she was about to explode.

“We need to talk about this,” Jessie said, still looking considerably flustered. “As a family. After lunch Marcus. No discussion.”

Fen nodded and while the rest of the table slowly got back to other conversations Ara and Fen could only look at each other in dread, refusing to believe he wouldn’t be allowed to go back to Hogwarts.

The rest of the lunch passed in a blur and before she knew it Fen was being dragged off with his parents.

“I’m sorry about your friend, Ara,” her uncle said, as they watched them leave the hall, “But as a parent, I had to tell them the truth. They deserve to understand what is going on at Hogwarts.”

Arabella nodded but her face was blank and the light had left her eyes. Nicholas pulled her out of her slumped position on the chair, throwing her over his shoulder and carrying her out of the hall with the rest of the Valois kids following behind them.

Emerging from the castle onto their Quidditch field Nicholas dumped Ara into the largest pile of snow before running off; laughing as she tried to throw a snowball at his retreating form.

“Come on now, mon petit fleur,” Septimus said, pulling her out of the snow, “Everything will work itself out. In the meantime, there’s nothing like a little Quidditch to cheer you up!”

Ara gave him a reluctant smile and let him drag her to the broomshed and get suited up for the Quidditch game. Once they were ready they headed back out onto the frozen pitch and found the rest of their family already divided into their teams.

They had been playing on these same teams for as long as Ara could remember and it was an ongoing battle to be the team with the better record. Currently, Ara, Septimus, Pandora, Castor, and Ajax had a three-game lead, but at the start of Christmas break, it had been a five-game lead. Ara played Seeker on her team as she always had. She was suited physically to being a Seeker since her small body could fly around the pitch with impressive speed, but the real reason she was the Seeker was that it was the least physical position and her siblings refused to let her play any other and with Seraphina, as the other Seeker she was almost guaranteed to avoid any injuries. At times it irritated her that she was coddled by her siblings, but with her weakened immune system, she was not as strong as a girl her age should be and was more easily injured as well so she didn’t complain too much.

The family lost themselves in the game for a while, with Ara s team leading the game, only stopping when they saw Fen approaching from across the lawn. They let Ara go to meet him on her own as they busied themselves with putting away the brooms and balls, but still hovering nearby.

Ara hurried over to Fen out of breath when she got there. She bit her already chapped lip until it started to bleed slightly and asked, “So, how did it go?”

“They’ve agreed to let me go back —”

Ara tackled him in a hug and he stumbled back in surprise but managed to keep his balance.

“But they said I have to write them weekly with updates on any new petrifications and they’ll pull me out at any point if they think it gets too dangerous.”

“That’s better than pulling you out now though!” Ara said, grin covering her whole face, “And I can help you write the letters so it seems like things aren’t bad!”

Ara pulled back from the hug and the two friends just stared at each other, both unable to stop smiling.

The next day the castle was full of people. Although the Ball didn’t start until 6 in the evening the castle was full of people hanging massive garlands along the halls, cooking a feast, and decorating the Great Hall with ice sculptures, trees, and wreaths. The Valois kids had spent most of the day together up in the royal suites with Fen and his siblings joining them.

“Is it always this crazy when there’s a ball here?” Darcy asked.

Seraphina nodded, “We usually try to hide up here for as much of the day as possible, but eventually the stylists find us and our work begins.”

“Work?” Darcy said.

“Yes, the New Year’s Eve Ball is a really important event for our uncle,” Seraphina said, “Leaders from across the Wizarding World are invited and almost all the French nobility come to the ball and because our uncle can’t entertain them all at once we have to help keep diplomatic relations strong.”

“Are the balls any fun at all then?”

“Oh definitely,” Seraphina said, “We don’t have to do it the entire night, but it does take up a lot of time. New Years has always been a big deal for our uncle, but he’s always made Christmas just for our family.”

“I can’t believe you and all your siblings have so much responsibility,” Darcy said, “I’d always imagined princes and princesses having this perfect life with no work, but there’s so much extra stuff you have to think about and know compared to normal kids.”

“Well, it definitely hasn’t always been easy, but we are representatives of the government as well as our family and we owe it to our people to live up to their expectations,” Seraphina said, “But we also get a lot of special tutoring when we’re young in all sorts of subjects most kids don’t have so it seems like a lot to an outsider, but we’ve quite literally been trained for this since birth.”

“Alright! Enough talk of responsibilities!” Pandora said, standing from the other couch, dragging Arabella with her, “I for one tend to have some fun tonight and us girls need to start getting ready!”

“Are you coming with us, Darcy?” asked Ara.

“Definitely, I don’t want to be stuck here with all the boys,” The boys booed at her as she joined the three Valois girls at the door. “Oh and Marcus, please watch Eddie, okay?”

Fen snorted a noncommittal response, but Darcy let herself get dragged away to Pandora and Seraphina’s suite of rooms where they were greeted by stylists armed with enough mascara and lipstick to turn one of their brothers into the princess they were meant to be.

Emerging from the rooms nearly two hours later Darcy, Pandora, and Arabella were giggling together as Seraphina shooed them towards the stairs.

“We’re already late!” she said

“It’s called a dramatic entrance, Phina,” Pandora laughed.

When they finally arrived outside the door, Seraphina made them stand in a line as she fussed with their hair and dresses. Ara could hear the music and chatter of the guests inside the room and her stomach rumbled from the delicious scents coming from the spectacular array of food she knew lay behind the great wooden door.

“Phina!” laughed Ara. Seraphina was tucking a piece of Ara’s hair behind her ear and trying to adjust her crown as Ara squirmed away from her. “We look fine! Didn’t you say we were late!”

Seraphina crouched until she was eye level with her littlest sister, “Mon belle, you look so much better than fine. I can’t believe you’re growing up so fast!”

“Alright mum,” Ara teased as her sister placed a kiss on each cheek and stood back to survey the group. Darcy has a strapless blue to white ombre gown that floated delicately from her waist to the ground. Pandora was wearing a tight magenta gown covered in delicate gems and beading, long sleeves coming to a point at her middle finger, a slit up to her thigh, and a killer smile painted on her face with red lipstick. Ara thought Seraphina looked like a fairy with her off the shoulder pink and cream gown covered in tiny embroidered flowers in every color imaginable. Ara was particularly fond of her dark blue dress that had a lace overlay that sparkled when she moved and had embroidered stars across the whole dress.

Seraphina gave the group an approving smile, nodded at the manservants who perked up, swung the doors inwards, and the four of them marched through the doors and into the party beyond.


	13. Valentine's Day: January/February 1993

Hermione had disappeared when everyone returned from Christmas Break and while rumors spread quickly around the castle claiming she was the most recent victim of the monster, Ara knew the truth. She had gone to visit Hermione in the Hospital Wing as soon as she pried out of Harry and Ron what had actually happened over their break. She had immediately told them off for risking themselves like that both with the Polyjuice Potion as well as breaking into the Slytherin common rooms. Ara had also forced them to sit through a brief history of the Malfoy family tree and made the rather logical argument that if the Malfoys were descendants of Salazar Slytherin their family definitely would have mentioned it before now. 

When Ron thought she wasn’t listening, he leaned over and whispered to Harry, “It’s like Hermione hired a replacement for while she’s stuck in the Hospital Wing.”

On her first visit a week or so into the term, Hermione had begged her to let her see her notes from Defense Against the Dark Arts class.

“Harry and Ron don’t take notes at all in Lockhart’s class because they don’t respect him,” Hermione whined. 

Although she had to agree with Harry and Ron about Lockhart being a horrible excuse for a Professor, she humored her friend and brought her the notes from class and the two sat in Hermione’s hospital bed giggling and chatting as they did the homework together. Their tradition of meeting up to do Defense Against the Dark Arts homework together even after Hermione was released from the Hospital Wing at the beginning of February. They relocated to the library and Ara was grateful that it seemed like she was finally connecting with a girl at Hogwarts. She was friendly with Luna, but Luna spent a lot of time in her own world and it made Ara feel like she had her feet firmly planted in reality even though she considered herself relatively creative. Ara and Hermione had invited Ginny to come to the library with them, but she always seemed jumpy and eager to get away from them so it never worked out. 

No one had been petrified since before Christmas Break and the castle was tense as everyone felt like the next attack was just around the corner. Ara was a little happier about it than others allowed themselves to be because the lack of attacks meant that convincing Fen’s parents to let him stay in the weekly letters was easy. Spirits in the castle as February seemed to trudge by were low and everyone was hoping for warmer weather and something exciting other than Moaning Myrtle flooding the corridor. What they were not hoping for was to walk into the Great Hall on Valentine’s Day to find the hall decorated with obscenely large flowers covering the walls, their frankly violent color matching Lockhart’s robes that day. The man in question was standing at the front of the room looking far too pleased with himself, practically rocking backwards and forwards on his feet in his excitement, as heart-shaped confetti rained down from the ceiling. 

“Happy Valentine Day!” Lockhart cried, “And may I thank the forty-six people who have so far sent me cards!”

Ara raised her eyebrow at Hermione at the Gryffindor table and just rolled her eyes when Hermione quickly looked away blushing. 

“Yes, I have taken the liberty of arranging this little surprise for you all — and it doesn’t end here!” 

With a clap of his hands, the doors to the hall swung open and a dozen miserable-looking dwarves tramped in, each with ridiculous golden wings and harps.

“My friendly. Card-carrying cupids!” proclaimed Lockhart, “They will be roving around the school today delivering you valentines! And the fun doesn’t stop there —”

At this point, Ara tuned Lockhart’s voice out and whispered to her friends, “If he’s trying to raise our spirits he’s failing miserably. This is just painful to watch.”

Her friends chuckled quietly and Graham added, “I just feel bad for those dwarves, you couldn’t get me to do that with all the money in the world.” 

The rest of the day moved unbearably slowly as it seemed they were interrupted every five minutes with another cupid delivering a valentine. Ara was surprised at the number of first-years receiving valentines. Although half her class was already twelve she still hadn’t thought about kids in her class fancying anyone yet. But when she pointed this out to her boys only Omar and Grant nodded along with her while Fen and Toby mumbled something and avoided eye contact as their cheeks reddened. But she would have to question them about it later because up ahead the corridor was blocked up as there seemed to be some kind of commotion. The boys helped Ara push to the front of the crowd of first-years who were just staring, as a dwarf sat on Harry’s ankles and started to sing.

“His eyes are as green as a fresh pickled toad, his hair is as dark as a blackboard. I wish he was mine, he’s really divine, the hero who conquered the Dark Lord.”

Ara cringed at the bad poetry and poor Harry looked like he wished he could dissolve into the floor. Percy Weasley tried to shoo the first-years off to their class, but as Draco and Harry faced off over Harry’s notebook that Draco had snagged from the ground. Percy was trying to keep the peace, but Harry lost his temper and shouted, “Expelliarmus!” and the diary zoomed away from Draco and was caught by Ron. Ara couldn’t help but smile as Draco went from gaping like a fish to steaming in anger and as Ginny followed by other first years headed to their classroom he called to Ginny, “I don’t think Potter liked your valentine much!” 

Ginny looked on the verge of tears and fled into the room. Ara glared at Draco as Harry pulled Ron away from him before a true fight started. Draco huffed haughtily and pushed through the first-years who were now surrounding him with a snarl. As he passed her Ara made eye contact with him and gave him her fiercest sneer before hurrying to find Ginny in the classroom. Ara abandoned her usual seat partner in History of Magic, Luna, and sat next to Ginny who was being given a wide berth by all the other first-years and was sniffling into her sleeve. 

“Don’t listen to Malfoy, Ginny,” Ara said softly, “He’s a prat. It took a lot of courage to send that valentine in the first place, I didn’t manage to send one. You’re a true Gryffindor.”

Ginny smiled sadly and tried to wipe the shine from her cheeks as Professor Binns floated into the room. 

“Thanks, Ara,” she whispered.

“What are friends for?” Ara said, smiling gently. Even though she realised as she said it that she had only talked to Ginny a few times that term and suddenly felt rather guilty that she had been neglecting the first friend she made at Hogwarts.

To be honest, Ara was excited about Valentine’s Day too, but only because the holiday prompted a Hogsmeade visit for the older grades and her siblings had promised to bring her back loads of sweets. That Sunday afternoon Ara and her boys camped out in the library to finish off their homework for the weekend with a massive pile of sweets spread across the table. They had a foot-long essay due for Transfiguration on Monday, six inches for Potions on Tuesday, and a practical Charms lesson on Tuesday where they were expected to be able to use the Locking and Unlocking Charms. 

Arabella and Toby were the best at Charms of the group and they tried to get the other performing the charm successfully on the locks they had been allowed to take with them for practice. Fen and Grant ended up being able to perform it successfully almost as often as Toby and Ara, but Omar could only occasionally get it to work. Omar and Grant were the best at Transfiguration though and found the best books that all five then combed through for information. Ara managed to get her essay done before the others and started on her Defence Against the Dark Arts homework that her friends didn’t have because they were in the class below her. After the boys had finished writing, they decided to check out some relevant books on the ingredients they were supposed to be writing about for Potions and finish that assignment later that night or the next day. 

Ara decided to stay behind for a bit to try to finish her Defence Against the Dark Arts essay, so she waved goodbye to the boys as they headed out to drop their stuff back in Ravenclaw Tower before dinner. Most of the other students in the library were trickling out as well as it got closer to dinnertime. Soon the only people left were Ara, Madam Pince, and Draco Malfoy. Ara finished her Defence essay fairly quickly making sure to sprinkle in plenty of compliments to Lockhart amongst the information about vampires she had gotten from an actual book on Dark creatures and not from Lockhart’s nonsensical book _Voyages with Vampires._ She decided that she had time to start on the Potions essay too before dinner and she was also embarrassed about how difficult Potions Theory was for her and this way she could start on it before she worked on it with her friends the next day. 

Glancing across at Draco a few tables away she could tell he was also working on the Defence Against the Dark Arts essay but was only using Lockhart’s book which contained more bragging about his charm than actual information on vampires. Returning her focus to the Potions essay she quickly grew frustrated from her confusion. Looking up at Draco again she felt an idea pop into her head but wasn’t sure if she was brave enough to put it into action. She let her eyes fall upon the Potions book again and made up her mind. Quickly gathering her books, essay, and quills into her arms, she slung her bag over her shoulder and walked over to Draco’s table, and sat down in the chair across from him. 

He looked up at her slowly, a blank look on his face and she smiled back at him. 

“Hello, Draco,” she said, “I noticed you were using Lockhart’s book on vampires and since I finished my essay a few minutes ago I figured I would give you the book that I found to be a lot more informative than Lockhart’s.

She pulled the book from the pile of her things and slid it across the table to him. He looked from her to the book and then back to her again, “So, what’s the catch?” 

“What?” 

“We’re not friends, so why are you trying to help me. What do you want?”

“What? Nothing! Well, I mean I didn’t give you the book because I wanted something. I was just being friendly. I did have a question for you if you don’t mind though?”

Draco gave her a skeptical and suspicious look but nodded at her to continue.

“I’m just having a little trouble with this potions essay and since I know you’ve already finished first-year Potions and I’ve heard that you’re pretty good at it I was hoping you could help me understand.”

“Where’d you hear I was good at Potions?” 

“Umm,” Ara was pretty sure she wasn’t supposed to tell him this but decided it didn’t matter that much really, “Well, Harry, Ron, and Hermione said it. Although I guess it was Hermione who said it and Harry and Ron reluctantly agreed.”

Draco smirked, “Wow, Granger acknowledging someone other than her is good at something. Shocking.”

“Hey,” Ara frowned at him, “I came over to ask for help, not so you could insult my friends. I hate asking for help so if you’re just going to be rude I’m going to go!”

“Calm down, Arabella,” Draco said, “I’ll help you, but couldn’t you just ask you older siblings for help?”

“Well you just learned this last year, they haven’t learned it in years,” Ara said, “Plus, they already do a lot for me and they have their own work to deal with NEWTs and OWLs for both sets of twins. I don’t want to bother them if it’s something I can figure out on my own. Or I guess in this case, a little help.”

The room was silent as Draco just stared at her for a minute after that and Ara couldn’t maintain eye contact when she felt so vulnerable and fiddled with her headband-tiara instead. “I’ll help you,” he said, “What are you having problems with?”

Ara smiled and settled in the chair as she pulled out her essay and the book she had been using for research. They spent the next half hour until dinner huddled over the book and essay as Draco answered every question she had a lot more patiently and kindly than she had expected. Not to say that he was polite and encouraging while helping, but he kept the teasing to a minimum. With his help on her potions essay she was half done when they left and he had finished his Defence Against the Dark Arts essay. 

They went their separate ways in the bustle to dinner outside of the Great Hall, each heading to their respective tables. Despite her initial reservations about asking Draco for help, she was happy she had given him a chance to redeem himself after his rude comment to Ginny earlier that week. Their study session had turned out to be helpful to both of them and she hoped he might help her with Potions again in the future. Ara resolved to do something nice for him to thank him for his help, maybe bake some cookies with the house-elves in the kitchens. 


	14. Electives and Hand Mirrors: March 1993

Easter holiday fell at the end of March that year but it was still too cold outside for anyone except the Quidditch players to spend time outside. Most of the Hogwarts students were going stir crazy from being cooped up inside with only a few who tried to brave the cold air and raging winds. Hermione and Ara didn’t mind too much and they spent all their time together in the library. Hermione had told Ara what Harry, Ron, and she had discovered about Tom Riddle and the two of them had been researching Hogwarts’s history, magical creatures, and this Tom Riddle person during the break because they didn’t have homework. They hadn’t had any success on Tom Riddle, there were too many magical creatures to get through all of them, and there was almost no information in  _ Hogwarts a History _ about the Chamber of Secrets. 

After a few hours in the library, they gave up on research for a while and started talking about the big decision coming up for the second-years. Hermione had shown her the list of possible Electives available to third-year students and Ara was a little jealous that she had to wait another whole year before she got to sign up for Electives.

“Have you decided what you’re going to take yet?”

“Well I’m going sign up for all of them but I’m not sure how they would all fit in one schedule so they might try to make me cut down the list.”

“You’re going to take Muggle Studies too? Weren’t you raised in the Muggle world?”

“Yes, I was, but I thought it would be fascinating to learn about Muggles from a wizard’s perspective!”

Ara nodded her head as if she understood her friend’s logic even though she thought Hermione might be stretching her limits with too many classes. “How was growing up in the Muggle World? Did you have any idea magic existed?”

“I had a great childhood! I had no idea that I was a witch but there were plenty of books about magic in the Muggle world, like the Chronicles of Narnia, Matilda, and The Chronicles of Chrestomanci, but the magic in the books is nothing like the magic we do here.”

“So you learned about real magic for the first time when you got your Hogwarts letter?”

“That’s right.”

“That’s so strange to me! I’ve never known the world without magic! I saw people do magic all the time while I was growing up.”

“Did you live in an all-wizard village, like Hogsmeade?”

Ara paused, “It’s a lot bigger than Hogsmeade, more of a city really, but yeah, only wizards live there.”

“Are there a lot of wizard cities in France?”

“Just a few. If there were too many it would be hard to keep Muggles from finding them unintentionally. I live in Blois, the capital city of Wizarding France, and I think it’s the biggest city.”

“Do your aunt and uncle work for the French Ministry of Magic?”

“Well,” Ara said, trying not to giggle or smile too much, “yeah, they do work with the French Ministry of Magic.”

“That’s awesome! I’d love to go to other Wizarding Nations and learn about magic outside of Britain!”

“I love traveling! My family travels all over, mostly in Europe, but I’ve gone to America as well! You’d be surprised how little different people know about the other Wizarding communities in the world. No one at Hogwarts really knows anything about France.”

“I’d be happy to learn about it! I’m sure there’s plenty of books here in the library and you could give me an inside perspective too!”

“It’s great you’re interested,” Ara said, giggling at Hermione’s passion for learning and reading anything she could get her hands on when an idea came to her,” If you’d like you could always come visit me in France sometime in the summer and I can show you all around Blois!”

“I’ll have to talk to my parents about it, but that sounds fantastic!”

Smiling the girls decided to call it a day on the research and meet up with their other friends for lunch. 

That Saturday, Ara was heading with her boys to the Gryffindor-Hufflepuff match, when she spotted Harry and Ron across the Entrance Hall and she hurried over to wish Harry luck.

She wove her way through the crowd of students on their way to the Quidditch match, leaving her boys to try to keep up with her. “Harry!” she exclaimed when she got close enough, “Good luck today! I know you’ll be brilliant!”

“Oh, thanks, Ara,” he said, looking surprised at her sudden arrival, “It’s actually good you found us. Hermione ran off to the library a little bit ago and asked us to send you to meet her if we saw you before the match.”

The first-year Ravenclaw boys stumbled out of the crowd, finally catching up to Ara.

“Oh? What did she go to the library for?”

“No clue,” Ron said, “She said something about ‘understanding it now’ and then took off.”

“Huh, maybe it’s about the research we’ve been doing,” Ara gave the boys a meaningful look hoping they would understand it was about the Chamber of Secrets, she hadn’t told her boys what exactly she had been researching with Hermione and she didn’t want to worry them since they hadn’t found anything yet anyway. “I’m sure she wouldn’t ask if it wasn’t important.” She turned to her boys, “Can I catch up with you at the match? I’ve got to go see Hermione for a bit.”

“Fine,” Omar said, “But you owe us for all the time you’ve been spending with her ‘researching’ lately.”

“Yeah,” Toby jumped in, “I think you owe us some of those cookies you’ve been talking about recently.”

“Or more candy from Hogsmeade!” Fen said.

“There really should be a better way for first and second-years to get candy without having to beg older siblings,” said Grant. “But you’ve got plenty of those, Ara, so I’m sure you can come up with something!” 

Ara rolled her eyes but smiled fondly at her boys, “Fine, I’ll figure something out. Are you sure you lot can make it down to the stands without me though? We’re not trying to have a repeat of last week.”

Fen had tried to slide down one of the Hogwarts bannisters the week before and ended up crashing into a wall. 

The boys booed her but smiled as she waved goodbye and hurried off towards the library. Ara hurried back up the stairs and turned down the corridor to the library wondering what Hermione could have figured out in the past few days. She had just turned the last corner to the library when she tripped over someone’s legs. She hit the ground hard, barely managing to get her hands up in time to stop her face planting into the floor. She groaned and turned around angrily to yell at whoever had picked a poor spot to sit or have a nap. When she turned on her knees to find out who had tripped her up she found herself staring directly into Hermione’s motionless face and glassy eyes. Ara scrambled back away from her petrified friend but quickly bumped into one of the Ravenclaw prefects, also lying lifeless on the floor. 

Ara screamed at the top of her lungs and burst into tears.

Barely a minute later Madam Pince appeared in the doorway of the Library her head poked around to shush whoever was making the racket, but when her eyes were met with a first-year sobbing between two more petrified students rather than the hooligan she was expecting, her mouth fell open and she immediately sent a Patronus to Professor McGonagall and Professor Dumbledore. McGonagall arrived first looking thoroughly kitted out for the Gryffindor Quidditch match. She immediately hurried to check both girls to make sure they were only petrified and not something much worse. Dumbledore arrived just as she finished checking the girls. 

“I’m afraid it’s another double attack, Albus,” McGonagall said, “But they’re only petrified.”

Ara stifled another loud sob as tears rolled endlessly down her cheeks.

“Miss. Lestrange, did you discover them?” Dumbledore asked, walking over and looking down at her kindly.

Ara only managed to nod in response, mind still reeling from shock. Dumbledore produced a handkerchief and offered it to her. She gratefully took it and managed a weak smile up at him.

“I heard someone scream in the hall,” Madam Pince said, “And when I went to investigate I found them all here on the ground.”

“But you didn’t actually see them be petrified. Correct, Miss. Lestrange,” Dumbledore asked.

Ara took a deep breath and after a few gulps said, “Correct, Professor Dumbledore, Sir. I ran into Harry and Ron in the Entrance Hall on our way to the match and they said Hermione had run off to the library about something and had asked them to tell me to meet her here,” Ara gestured vaguely at the library doors behind her, “I was rounding the corner when I tripped over Hermione’s legs.”

“And does that mean anything to you?” Dumbledore asked, pointing to an ornate gilded hand mirror clenched tightly in Hermione’s hand. 

“No, I’ve never seen it before. I don’t know if it’s even Hermione’s.”

“Well, why don’t we get you three to the Hospital Wing,” Dumbledore said, “Your hands and knees are bleeding, Miss. Lestrange.”

Ara looked down and found that was in fact true and only then did she start to feel a sting of pain from the cuts. 

“I’ve called Madam Pomfrey, Albus, she should be here soon,” McGonagall added.

“Very good, Minerva,” Dumbledore replied, “Now go down to the Quidditch pitch and tell them the match has been cancelled and they all need to return to their dormitories immediately and wait for their Heads of House to give them more information. Let the other Professors know what has happened and have them meet us in the Hospital Wing after they’ve cleared the stands.”

McGonagall nodded and hurried off just as Madam Pomfrey appeared with two stretchers floating beside her. The next few minutes were a blur for Ara as Hermione and the Ravenclaw prefect were placed onto the stretchers, which began to float down the hall, leaving Madam to help Ara to her feet and somehow get all three of them to the Hospital Wing and set up on beds within a few minutes.

  
  


Down at the Quidditch pitch, McGonagall summoned a large purple megaphone as she quickly onto the pitch. Holding it up to her mouth as she rapidly approached the Quidditch teams, she addressed the stadium, “This match has been canceled,” Oliver Wood nearly crash-landed in his haste to get to her, but she tuned him out and continued with her announcement, “All students are to make their way back to the House Common Rooms, where their Heads of Houses will give them further information. As quickly as you can please!”

She lowered to Harry and motioned for Harry to come over as she scanned the stands intently as the students began to file out. “Potter, I think you’d better come with me,” and hurried back the way she came. Harry could see Ron separate himself from the crowd running towards them. Harry was surprised to find that McGonagall stopped to wait for him, but he should have known her better as the Head Boy and Girl, Ara’s older siblings joined Ron in his run up the hill. 

“Yes, perhaps you’d better come too, Weasley,” she said peering down at him through her spectacles, as the Head Boy and Girl arrived.

“What’s going on, Professor—” the Head Girl started. 

“You two need to come with us too,” Professor McGonagall said and spun on her heel resuming her march towards the castle without offering any more explanation. All four students rushed to follow her.

They followed her up through the Entrance Hall, up the stairs, heading not towards anyone’s office, but rather towards the infirmary. Only then did McGonagall slow her pace allowing the students to catch up to her

“This will be a bit of a shock,” said Professor McGonagall, her tone weirdly kind, “There has been another attack — another double attack.”

McGonagall pushed the door open and led the students in. Several Professors were huddled around a few beds further in the room. As they got closer they could see a Ravenclaw and Hermione laid in the first two beds, both unnervingly still, and in the third be Arabella sat her face red and eyes swollen. The Head Boy and Girl immediately rushed past the Professors to their little sister, who immediately started crying again as she was enveloped in their hugs.

Ron groaned, “Hermione!” As he and Harry stood over Hermione’s bed identical expressions of shock on their faces. 

“They were found near the library,” Professor McGonagall said, “I don’t suppose either of you can explain this? It was found in Hermione’s hand.”

Both boys looked blankly at the hand mirror she was holding out and shook their heads. 

“I will escort you back to Gryffindor Tower. I need to address the students in any case.” Professor McGonagall said.

“Could we talk with Arabella for a minute, Professor?” Harry asked.

“One minute. Mr. Potter.”

Harry and Ron hurried over to Ara’s bed, where she was still wrapped in her siblings, and Harry asked, “Ara! What happened? Are you okay? Did you see who did it?”

“I’m fine,” she said, clearly not fine, “I was on my way to the library to meet with Hermione like you said and when I turned the last corner I tripped over Hermione’s legs and fell. When I sat up I realized Hermione and Penelope were petrified. I didn’t see who it was though, there was no one in the hall when I got there.”

Ron nudged Harry pointing subtly to the bandages on Ara’s hands and knees, “Did that happen when you tripped” he asked.

“Yeah, I didn’t even notice until Dumbledore pointed them out though. Madam Pomfrey bandaged them up and gave me some cream to point on them. I’ll be fine soon.”

“Mr. Potter, Mr. Weasley!” called Professor McGonagall.

“We’ve got to go, Ara,” Harry said quickly, “We’ll see you later.”

“Feel better,” Ron said as they hurried to where Professor McGonagall was waiting impatiently at the door.

After McGonagall, Harry, and Ron had left the infirmary Pandora turned to Madam Pomfrey and asked, “Madam Pomfrey, does Arabella have to spend the night here or can she go back to the dorms?”

“Oh yes, dear, just make sure to apply the cream and rewrap the bandages twice a day. If you use the cream her cuts should be completely gone in three days or so!”

“Thank you, Madam Pomfrey” Romulus said, “We appreciate you taking care of our sister.”

Romulus stood up from Ara’s hospital bed and slowly helped her to her feet. Then he turned and crouched down in front of her so she could get onto his back easily Ara felt drained from all the crying and wrapped her hands limply around her brother’s neck and buried her face in his shoulder as he stood back up again. Dumbledore was standing at the door and he nodded at the Lestranges as they made their way over to him.

“Do you need anything from the two of us, Professor Dumbledore?” Romulus said, stopping in front of the Headmaster. 

“Not at the moment, but I’ll contact you as more information comes in and the search for the culprit proceeds. I’d just like to warn you if the culprit is not found it is likely that Hogwarts will have to close its doors for the year. For now, just take care of the youngest Miss. Lestrange.”

“Thank you, sir, I’d just like to let you know that we’re going to take our sister to the Slytherin Common room and the rest of our siblings.” Pandora said, then adding hastily, “If it’s ok with you of course.”

Dumbledore chuckled, “That’s perfectly fine. Just make sure all three of you are back to your respective houses by tomorrow morning.”

Romulus and Pandora nodded and promptly left the infirmary. Taking the nearest staircase they headed down to the Slytherin dungeons quickly.

“It’s going to be okay, mon belle,” Pandora said gently, smoothing Ara’s hair back, “We’re going to get you down to Septimus and we can spend the rest of the day all of us together.”

Ara just nodded back tiredly and continued to lay limply on Romulus’s back. She was only vaguely aware of the rest of the trip to the Slytherin Common Room and she couldn’t have told anyone the Slytherin password even if they asked. Stepping through the portrait and into the Common Room, Romulus almost ran face-first into Professor Snape.

“Mr. Lestrange, Miss, Lestrange,” Snape paused, scowling over Romulus’s shoulder, “The other Miss. Lestrange. Shouldn't you be in your own House’s Common Room instead of invading Slytherin’s?”

Some of the Slytherins just inside the Common Room laughed while Pandora just straightened herself up, “You’ll find, Sir,” she said, a deadly smile and laser-beam glare on her face, “that we have permission from Professor Dumbledore to be here. Now would you be so kind as to move out of our way please?”

Snape sneered and as he passed them in what barely counted as a whisper he snapped, “After all your time spent in French Court you would think you would be more polite and have more respect for your superiors.”

Pandora whipped around hissing, “You’d find if you ever were allowed into French Court that we have no superiors.” Spinning back around her vicious glare cleared a way through the Slytherins and Romulus hurried to follow her as she stalked across the room to where the Quidditch boys and therefore Septimus, Castor, and Pollux were sitting. Pollux waved as he saw them approaching and Castor and Septimus turned lazy smiles on their faces until they noticed Pandora’s murderous expression and Ara’s limp form on Romulus’s back. 

The boys had been sitting in the chairs around the most isolated fireplace no doubt to distance themselves from the other students.

“Move,” Pandora said decisively and the usually fearless team scrambled to find a different fireplace where they could kick out the other students. Romulus crouched down next to the chair Septimus was now sitting stiff as a board in letting Ara slide off his back to immediately be swept up by Septimus as he settled the two of them back in his chair, Ara quietly crying again into his shoulder.

“What the bloody hell happened?” Septimus said, stroking Ara’s hair and rubbing her back like he always did when she was sick, “Snape didn’t give us any details.”

“There was another attack,” Romulus said, pulling his chair into a tighter circle and his siblings followed his lead until their chairs were huddled tightly around the fireplace.

“Not just an attack,” Pandora jumped in, “A double attack. And Ara was the one who discovered them.”

Septimus clutched Ara tighter to his chest, “Was she in danger of being petrified too?”

Ara coughed trying to clear her throat before speaking for the first time since leaving the infirmary, “No, there was no one around by the time I got there. I was headed to the library to meet Hermione, who had told Harry and Ron to tell me to meet her there urgently, when I tripped over something and when I got up to see what I had fallen over, Hermione was lying there petrified,” Ara started crying again, before continuing tearfully, “She’s one of my best friends! Why did this have to happen to her?”

“And the bandages?”

“I cut my hands and knees when I tripped over Hermione.”

“Uncle is not going to be happy,” Castor said.

“We promised him we would be safe here,” Pollux said.

“Well technically we are safe since none of us have been petrified and since we’re purebloods it's unlikely to happen,” Romulus said.

“Well he won’t consider us safe if Snape ‘accidentally’ exposes our secret,” Pandora said grumpily, “Especially not with everything else going on this year.”

“What do you mean?” Septimus asked.

Pandora looked around the Common Room and although they were given a wide berth by the other students, many were looking over with unconcealed curiosity. So switching to French she continued, “Snape was bitter that we had permission from Dumbledore to be here so he remarked that since we spend so much time at French Court we should know how to be polite and respect our superiors —”

“And then Pandora told him that if he was ever allowed to come to French Court that he would see that we have no superiors!” Ara laughed.

The three Slytherins laughed, “Did you really say that Dora?”

“Yes Castor, I really did say that,” Pandora said, the corners of her lips twitching upwards into a small smile.”

“I wouldn’t worry too much about Snape exposing us,” Pollux said, “He’d be in a world of trouble from Dumbledore and can you even imagine what Uncle Louis would do?”

“He would probably give Snape some huge fine for ‘endangering the lives of the royal family’ or something,” Septimus said. 

“Do you have any Honeyduke’s left, Sept?” Ara asked, smiling sweetly up at her brother.

“Did you finish all of yours already, mon petit fleur?” Romulus asked, “We got you enough to last the rest of the semester!” 

“Sort of,” she said blushing, “Toby, Fen, Omar, Grant, and I finished it while studying.”

“I’ve still got some, Ara,” Pollux said, “It’s in the drawer of the nightstand next to my bed, do you want to go grab it?”

“Sure!” Ara said, sliding off Septimus’s lap and wandering off, “Thanks Pollux!”

The rest of her siblings watched as she crossed the room and as soon as she disappeared down the corridor to the dormitories, they all relaxed back in their seats until Pandora said, “So what are we going to do to convince Uncle Louis to let us stay for the rest of term?”

Draco watched the littlest Lestrange head down the hall leading to the boys' dormitories before turning back to Theo, Blaise, Crabbe, and Goyle. 

“What do you think they’re whispering about over there?” Theo asked.

“Can you hear what they’re saying, Draco?” Crabbe asked.

“A little,” he replied, “But I don’t understand what they’re saying. They’re talking in French.”

“Why would they do that?” Goyle asked.

“Well other than because it’s their native language,” Draco said, rolling his eyes, “Probably because whatever they’re saying they don’t want anybody else to understand.”

“Your family has a lot of secrets, Drake,” Blaise said, “But the Lestrange’s are something else entirely.”

“They’re definitely odd,” Draco admitted, watching as Arabella reentered the Common Room and drifted back towards her siblings, unaware of the way students cleared the path back to her siblings. Between the way the Lestranges unconsciously carried themselves and the way they only had a few very close friends and didn’t interact much with people outside those groups, they had walls between themselves and the rest of the Hogwarts students. “But at least they’re purebloods.”

“I guess,” Theo said, “I think Ara is the most normal though.”

“Why?” Draco asked.

“Well she’s the most friendly and social of them,” Theo replied, “Not that the others don’t have friends, but they’re all kind of scary. I wouldn’t want to be on their bad side is all I’m saying.”

“I agree,” Blaise jumped in, “She’s crazy good at Defense Against the Dark Arts, but Ara’s the only one who I feel like I could approach without getting a death glare.”

Draco scoffed, “She’s not that good at Defense Against the Dark Arts.”

Theo and Blaise shared a look, Crabbe and Goyle continued to stare blankly into space, and Draco frowned. “You are aware that she’s a first-year, Draco,” Theo said, “And she’s in our Defense Against the Dark Arts class.”

“I bet she’d be a better teacher than Lockhart too,” Blaise laughed.

“Well that’s not exactly difficult, is it? The man is useless,” Draco said. 

After dinner that night, Pandora and Romulus went to see Professor Dumbledore and then the Prefects to talk about their new responsibilities, while Ara headed back to the Slytherin Common Room with her brothers. She had sat with her boys at the Ravenclaw table during dinner and they were relieved to find out she was okay though still upset about Hermione. Pollux had given her a piggyback ride to dinner and Snape made it a point to glare at her as Castor gave her a piggyback ride back to the Slytherin Common Room. 

Settled back in the Common Room Ara borrowed a book from Septimus and read while he hung out with some friends nearby in the Common Room. Eventually, he headed off to bed but Ara wanted to finish the book and told Septimus that she would be along shortly.

“Besides this gives all the boys in your dorm a chance to change before I get back there.”

Nearly thirty minutes later, the Common Room was empty except for a few people reading in their corners. Draco got up from where he was working on a letter to his father about what had happened, knowing his father would be pleased, but he felt a bit guilty when he noticed Ara curled up in a leather chair in front of the fireplace across the room. It had spread quickly across the castle that Ara had been the one to find the newest victims and he couldn’t help but notice that ever since the incident she had been making herself as small as possible. She was still drowning in one of her brother’s sweaters and was curled into the tightest ball possible. At dinner, she had hidden in her older siblings' shadows until she slunk off to the Ravenclaw table to be with the little first-year boys who hung off her all the time. And he found his feet without permission moving towards Ara’s fireplace rather than the boy’s dormitory.

Ara glanced up as he approached and stood in front of her nervously shifting his weight between his feet. “Hello, Draco.”

“Arabella,” he replied, nodding at her. There was a long pause as he stood in front of her trying to figure out what to say and she just watched placidly as different emotions flashing across his face. “I just wanted to say that I’m sorry you were the one who found your — friend after she was petrified. And I hope your cuts get better quickly.”

“Thank you,” Ara said quietly, “But don’t you hate Hermione?”

“Well, yes,” he said, “But I don’t mind you, and finding the two Mud— Muggleborns petrified made you upset. Anyway, I’ll see you in class tomorrow.”

He started to shuffle away, quill clenched tightly in his hand, only turning back around quickly when Ara spoke up, “See you tomorrow, and thank you for your help on the Potions essay a few weeks ago. We just got our marks back and I did a lot better than usual thanks to your help.”

“No problem, Lestrange,” he said.

“You know you can call me Ara or Arabella if you want. Lestrange sounds so formal.”

“I’ll keep that in mind. Goodnight”

“Goodnight!” Although he didn’t say it he had also appreciated her help on the Defense Against the Dark Arts essay and he headed off to bed wondering if they would ever help each other again.


	15. Life Goes On (March/April 1993)

Only a day after Hermione was petrified, Hagrid and Professor Dumbledore both disappeared, and while the students weren’t officially told anything Harry and Ron admitted to her that they had snuck out to see Hagrid and overheard the whole thing. Ara had a hard time believing that Hagrid could be the one behind the attacks. He didn’t have any problems with Muggleborns, especially not Hermione, and while Harry and Ron had explained about how he tried to raise a dragon in his hut last year and had a three-headed dog named Fluffy she still didn’t think Hagrid had it in him to hurt people on purpose.

With Hermione petrified Arabella found herself propping up both Harry and Ron in Defence Against the Dark Arts class. The boys hardly paid attention in class but Ara took diligent notes, knowing that Hermione would be furious with how much she had missed by the time she woke up. Harry and Ron followed Ara to the library a few days a week so she could help them with the Defence Against the Dark Arts work. Ara had seen Draco in the library a few times but he was never alone and never approached her, while she was too busy keeping Harry and Ron on task. Ron said that she was as bad as Hermione but he never complained when he got back decent marks on the work. 

They only had about an hour in the library though before they needed to hurry to dinner and then had to spend the rest of the evening in their Houses with the new curfew. Ara hadn’t slept over in the Slytherin Common for a few weeks now and felt like she was barely spending any time with her siblings. Pandora and Romulus were busier than ever with their Head duties and Castor and Pollux tended to just do their work in the Slytherin Common Room rather than the library. Septimus was the only one she saw consistently as he and his friends usually joined her in the library the days she didn’t study with Harry and Ron. Ginny had almost entirely disappeared after Hermione was petrified and Ara only saw her during class, where she didn’t speak and had taken to sitting alone in the corner of the classrooms. After dinner, she spent all her time with her boys in the Ravenclaw Common Room. Sometimes Luna or the two other first-year boys, Jason and Hugo, would join them, but Ara mainly just tried to avoid her dorm because Helen, Ophelia, Felicity, and Delia, had claimed that as their study space and every time Ara walked in to get something they all went silent and she could hear them immediately start talking again as soon as she closed the door behind her. 

Between finding Hermione petrified and the increasing amount of work it felt like they were being assigned Ara’s birthday completely snuck up on her. Her siblings did not forget though and at breakfast, they surrounded her the second she came in. Castor pulled her usual subtle tiara, which passed as a slightly jeweled headband off her head and Pollux replaced it with a much larger and more obvious crown. 

“What are you doing?” she hissed at them, eyes darting around the Great Hall to see if anyone had noticed, “Are you trying to blow our cover?”

“Relax, mon belle!” Castor laughed, “Just tell everyone it’s a birthday crown!”

“You’re not allowed to take it off all day or you’ll have to suffer the consequences,” Pollux added.

“Just what I wanted for my birthday,” Ara said, giving her brothers a sarcastic smile, “A threat.”

“It’s one of Mother’s crowns,” said Pandora, pushing the twins aside to hug Ara, “Seraphina and I each have one of her crown’s as well, so it seemed only appropriate that you get one too!”

Ara touched the crown on her head reverently, eyes wide, and whispered, “It was Mother’s?”

Pandora smiled sadly down at her. Ara was the only sibling with no memories of their mother. Septimus had only been three at the time of her death but had some vague memories of their mother while she was pregnant with Arabella. “Yes, mon petit fleur,” Pandora said, straightening the crown and arranging Ara’s hair around it, “And she would be so proud of you.”

Ara gave her sister a watery smile and let herself be swept into another fierce hug.

“Alright, alright,” Septimus said, “Let’s let the birthday princess get some breakfast and we’ll give her the rest of her gifts at dinner tonight.”

Each of her siblings gave her another hug and kiss on the cheek before she was finally allowed to join her boys at the Ravenclaw table. Fen’s eyes were wide as he stared at the crown on her head. He had done a good job keeping the Lestrange’s secret up until that point and Ara shot him a look and said as she sat down, “My siblings gave me a birthday crown and Castor and Pollux said I have to wear it all day!” 

“It’s your birthday?” Grant asked.

“Yeah,” Ara said, “I almost forgot about it with all the madness around here lately.”

“You should have told us!” Omar exclaimed.

“Yeah, we didn’t get you anything,” Toby added. 

“I didn’t get any of you presents for your birthdays!” Ara said.

“That’s not true,” Grant said, “You brought me cupcakes for my birthday in November!”

“And biscuits for mine in March,” Toby said. 

“Ok well, I didn’t get anything for Fen or Omar!” Ara said.

“That’s completely different!” Fen said, “We were barely friends then!”

“You definitely should have told us,” Omar said.

“You know, I don’t think I like it when you all gang up on me,” Ara said.

“Well that’s just too bad now isn’t,” Fen said.

Ara laughed, “Fine! I’m sorry I didn’t tell you it was my birthday today! Now can I please eat my chocolate croissant in peace?”

The boys smiled having a silent conversation with their eyes around her before Toby spoke, “Fine, we forgive you, but no more secrets!”

Ara’s eyes darted over to Fen who was giving her a knowing smirk.

“Right, no more secrets,” she agreed. Fen quirked his brow at her and she rolled her eyes back. She would tell them her last secret later that day. Telling them over breakfast surrounded by the whole school in the Great Hall didn’t seem like the right place. 

Her boys really took the birthday princess idea to heart and announced her arrival to each class like heralds. Ara was grateful that her birthday had triggered a better mood in the group, the past week or so since Easter holiday and Hermione being petrified had been dreadful with everyone on high alert and jumping at every sound. Some of the other first-years had also seized onto this small reason to smile and Ara had been told happy birthday by nearly everyone in her year many of whom she had never spoken to before. Even Professor McGonagall looked vaguely amused when Ara’s boys announced her presence as they arrived at Transfiguration, giving Ara a look that made her duck her head sheepishly. To anyone who knew the Lestranges’ secret the display was comical as most people just brushed it off as first-years making a big deal of their friend’s birthday. Snape was less amused and glared at her as she tried unsuccessfully to quiet down her friends. By the time they arrived at their first class of the afternoon, Ara could tell the Professors and some of the other first-years were getting a bit tired of the display and she was grateful that she had a break from them for the last two periods of the day. She appreciated her boys' cheerful attitude but they could go a little overboard sometimes. Professor Sprout escorted the first-years from the greenhouses up to the Defence Against the Dark Arts classroom and Ara waved goodbye to the boys before following Professor Sprout down to the second-years study hall in the library.

Having come directly from their last class the second-years were already set up in the library by the time she got there and she quickly found Harry and Ron at a table with the other Gryffindor boys. She hurried over to their table and sat down at the only empty seat, next to Harry. Neville flinched when she set her books down and looked at her wide-eyed. Ara shot him a small smile and didn’t mention his reaction. Fortunately, it was subtle enough that none of the other boys noticed it and she didn’t have to try to explain why Neville was scared of her. 

“Nice crown,” Ron said, “Were we supposed to dress up today?”

Ara rolled her eyes at him, “No, it’s just my birthday and my siblings have threatened severe consequences if I don’t wear the crown all day!”

“Happy Birthday, Ara!” Harry said smiling over at her, “Got any fun plans?”

“Not really, the boys have been dramatically announcing my entrance at every class and Snape did not appreciate it. So if I can avoid him for the rest of the day that would be ideal. And I think my siblings are going to give me some presents at dinner, but that’s all.”

“If my mum knew it was your birthday I think she would have made you a Weasley sweater,” Ron said, “Percy mentioned in a letter home last week that you had taken over helping us with school from Hermione and she wrote me to tell me to thank you for your help.”

“When did you get that letter?” Ara asked.

“Umm — about five days ago maybe?”

“Ron, I’ve seen you in class twice and outside of class twice since then and you never mentioned that?” Ara laughed.

“He didn’t even mention it to me until just now,” Harry said, grinning at Ron who looked rather sheepish.

“Well, don’t worry about it, Ron,” Ara said, “You can tell your mum that I had to help because I didn’t think Hermione would forgive me if I let you fail while she was gone.”

“And here I thought you were hanging out with us because you liked us,” Harry said. 

“Oh, shut up,” Ara said, elbowing Harry in the side, “Can we get some work done now?”

“As the birthday princess demands!” Harry said, laughing when Ara glared at him in response.

When Lockhart arrived to swap the first-years for the second-years he took one look at Ara’s crown and went nutty over it. He was already the most cheerful person in the castle since he was claiming the danger was gone now that the perpetrator had been caught. He was entirely convinced that Hagrid was responsible for the attacks and while Ara didn’t think Hagrid had it in him, Harry and Ron had a curious certainty that Hagrid was innocent. Ara was forced to walk next to Lockhart the entire way up to the classroom while he pelted her with questions about it. Arabella knew that the Professors were all told who the Lestrange children were when they were hired at the school and Lockhart was so dimwitted she worried he would spill the secret entirely by accident. Fortunately, the second-years abandoned Ara to be harassed by Lockhart and were trailing a fair bit behind them so they probably couldn’t hear his comments about the quality of the gold and gems, but Ara knew she had to cut him off before he said something truly revealing. 

“Professor,” she interrupted, “First of all, the only reason I’m wearing the crown today is that my siblings are making me because it’s my birthday. Second, none of the second years know that the crown is actually made of gold and jewels because it’s supposed to be a secret! So could you please stop talking about it?”

“Ah yes, of course, Miss. Lestrange,” Lockhart said, still smiling in his usual grotesque way, “Or should I say, Princess Arabella?”

Although he now laughed out loud at his own joke, he had managed to lower his voice to a whisper for the last part but with his lack of subtlety and general obliviousness, Ara couldn't help but still feel frustrated. She tried to trail behind him for the rest of the walk to class but she was still too close to him and too tense for her birthday. 

Ara took her usual seat behind Harry and Ron that she usually shared with Hermione, but had been occupying alone since she had been petrified and pulled her ink and parchment out as the rest of the class shuffled in. She was still bent over searching for her quill when she heard books being dropped on the other side of her desk and when she sat up quill in hand she was surprised to see Draco Malfoy taking the seat next to her.

“Err, Draco?” she said.

“Lestrange.”

“Is there a reason you’re sitting next to me rather than Blaise or Theo?”

“They’re sitting with each other and the only other seat is next to Longbottom.”

“Neville?” Ara glanced across the room to see Neville sitting in the front of the class by himself and thought to herself that she should sit with him next class. 

“I’d rather sit here than with that idiot.”

Ara scowled at her new desk partner, “Fine, but you can’t say anything rude for the rest of class.”

“Why not?”

“It’s my birthday and I don’t want anything other than Lockhart to ruin my good mood.”

Draco scoffed, “I’m still older than you. You can’t tell me what to do.”

Ara rolled her eyes at him, “Yes, it’s shocking that the only first-year in a class of second-years is the youngest one, and anyway aren’t you still twelve?”

She got an especially fierce glare for that, “I’m still older,” he mumbled.

Lockhart finally stopped messing with his hair in the mirror behind his desk and stepped up to the pedestal he preferred to teach from.

“Ara,” Harry whispered from in front of her, “If you want to switch seats for class today so you don’t have to sit next to Malfoy on your birthday I’d sit next to him for you.”

Ara smiled at Harry, “Thanks Harry, but I think I can handle class with him, especially because he’s promised to be good.”

Draco sputtered, blushing and trying to deny he had said anything of the sort, while Harry, Ron, and a few of the other nearby students stifled laughs as Lockhart started to talk unaware that most of the class was already distracted or dozing. Although Ara hadn’t experienced much of it because she only had one class with the second-years, Harry and Ron had told her that Draco had been unbearably cocky about Dumbledore’s removal and it seemed like some of the other second-years thought he deserved to be knocked down a peg. 

“Shh, Draco,” Ara stage whispered, “I would hate to miss any of the wisdom Lockhart is spouting today.”

The eavesdropping students around broke into soft chuckles again as Draco turned a brighter shade of red and began to look like he was going to threaten to ‘tell his father about this’ at any moment. 

Draco tried to pass her notes for the rest of class and while she humored him and read one she slid the rest back without looking. She expected the notes were him complaining about what she had said at the beginning of class but the one she did open just said ‘Happy Birthday’ with a doodle of a little cake and a present at the bottom. She looked over, catching his eye briefly, and gave him a real smile as he pretended that he hadn’t done something nice.


	16. The Chamber of Secrets: May 1993

Ara ended up telling Toby, Grant, and Omar about her family secret the night of her birthday after she and Fen had managed to get Hugo and Jason out of the first-year boys’ dorm for a bit. They were just as shocked as Fen and a little more skeptical until she showed them a French newspaper from the year before with her and her siblings on the front page with the king, queen, and heir. Toby was jealous that Fen had been told first and he had kept the secret from them for four months but he was quickly appeased by an invitation to spend part of the summer at a castle in France. Overall, Ara was stunned that she managed to get through the confession and the next month with minimal teasing about her poshness. 

The castle had been tense since the Easter holiday and it stayed that way through the rest of April and most of May. Ara had never felt so busy in her life between keeping up with studies, helping Harry and Ron, and trying to continue her and Hermione’s research. She kept hitting dead ends in the book of magical creatures she and Hermione had started shortly before Hermione was petrified and it even seemed like there were pages of the book missing as if someone had taken them to keep the truth from being discovered. 

Their next breakthrough came in May when Harry and Ron snuck into the Forbidden Forest and narrowly escaped being eaten by Hagrid’s massive pet spider, Aragog. Harry told her about what Aragog had said about the girl killed by the monster in the Chamber of Secrets dying in a bathroom and how they thought it might be Moaning Myrtle. The boys wanted to come with her to visit Moaning Myrtle but it was near impossible to slip away from their teachers’ escorts between classes. The three had almost decided it would be better for Ara to go alone and get the information rather than wait for all of them to be able to get there when Lockhart’s belief that the danger was gone finally became useful. They had left Defense Against the Dark Arts and Lockhart was taking them to the second-year’s History of Magic class and then Ara to her Charms class. 

“Mark my words,” Lockhart said, “The first words out of those poor Petrified people’s mouths will be ‘It was Hagrid.’ Frankly, I’m astounded Professor McGonagall thinks all these security measures are necessary.”

“I agree, sir,” Harry said and Ron dropped his books onto Ara’s foot in surprise.

Ara yelped and fell on the floor while Ron scrambled to apologize and pick his books up. Lockhart had stopped and let some Hufflepuffs pass by while he continued to talk to Harry, “Thank you, Harry! I mean, we teachers have quite enough to be getting on with, without walking students to classes and standing guard all night —”

“That’s right,” Ron said, “Why don’t you leave us here, sir, we’ve only got one more corridor to go —”

“You know, Weasley, I think I will. I really should go and prepare for my next class, Miss. Lestrange, you can find your way too, yes?”

“Of course,” Ara said, giving him a dazzling smile, “I’d hate to take up more of your time.”

“Good girl,” Lockhart said, “Very good of you —”

He hurried off back the way they had come and Harry, Ron, and Ara slowed down letting the rest of the second-years get further ahead of them before slipping down the next side hall. They were hurrying towards Moaning Myrtle’s bathroom when Harry skidded to a halt and Ara slammed into his back. She was about to ask what the matter was when she heard Professor McGonagall speak.

“Potter! Weasley! What are you doing?” Ara poked her head out from behind Harry, “Miss Lestrange! You’re here too?”

“We were — we were —” Ron sputtered, “We were going to — to go and see —”

“Hermione!” Harry said.

“We haven't seen her for ages, Professor,” Ara said, stepping on Ron’s foot.

“And we thought we’d sneak into the hospital wing, you know,” Harry said, “And tell her the Mandrakes are nearly ready and, er, not to worry—”

Ara braced herself for the explosion if McGonagall didn’t believe them, but after several seconds of just staring at them, Professor McGonagall said, voice slightly hoarse, “Of course, of course, I realise this has all been hardest on the friends of those who have been — I quite understand. Yes, Potter, of course, you may visit Miss Granger. I will inform Professor Binns and Professor Flitwick where you've gone. Tell Madam Pomfrey I have given my permission.”

“Thank you, Professor,” Ara said, dragging the two boys, still gaping like fish, down the passage to the Hospital Wing.

They rounded the corner, heard Professor McGonagall blow her nose, and Ron waited until they had gotten a good way down the passage before letting out his breath in a short laugh. “That,” he said earnestly, “Was the best story you’ve ever come up with.”

“Thanks for going along with it, Ara,” Harry said.

“I’m just glad it worked! I can’t believe she didn’t give us detention.”

They were let into the Hospital Wing by a reluctant Madam Pomfrey, who’d said, “There’s just no point talking to a Petrified person.”

She wasn’t wrong Ara thought as the three of them sat around Hermione’s bed as she lay there completely unaware that they had come to visit her and that the cure would soon be administered. 

“Wonder if she did see the attacker, though?” said Ron, “Because if he sneaked up on them all, no one’ll ever know —”

Ara nodded along to Ron, “One of them must have seen something though,” she said feeling quite distressed about the attacker not being caught.

Harry looked over his shoulder checking that Madam Pomfrey was far away before reaching for Hermione’s hand. “I think she’s holding something,” he said.

“Try and get it out,” Ron whispered, angling himself so he was blocking Madam Pomfrey’s view of Harry and Hermione.

It took a few long minutes, with Ron and Ara glancing over their shoulders’ almost constantly before Harry finally worked the paper free of her grip. But as soon as Harry uncrumpled the paper Ara recognized the old paper as coming from the book of magical creatures she had been searching through. 

“That’s the missing page from Most Macabre Monstrosities!” Ara whisper shouted.

“What?” Ron said.

“It’s the book Hermione and I had started on right before she was petrified! And I’ve kept going through it but I didn’t ever find anything but now I know that’s because Hermione had taken the page!”

“Well, what does it say?” Ron asked and Harry smoothed it out and they all leaned in close.

_ Of the many fearsome beasts and monsters that roam our land, there is none more curious or more deadly than the Basilisk, known also as the King of Serpents. This snake, which may reach gigantic size, and live many hundreds of years, is born from a chicken's egg, hatched beneath a toad. Its methods of killing are most wondrous, for aside from its deadly and venomous fangs, the Basilisk has a murderous stare, and all who are fixed with the beam of its eye shall suffer instant death. Spiders flee before the Basilisk, for it is their mortal enemy, and the Basilisk flees only from the crowing of the rooster, which is fatal to it. _

At the bottom of the page was the word “Pipes” Written in Hermione’s handwriting.

“Guys,” Ara whispered, “This is it. This is the answer. The monster in the Chamber is a basilisk!”

“Of course,” Harry said, “A basilisk is a giant serpent! That’s why I’ve been hearing that voice all over the place, and nobody else has heard it. It’s because I understand Parseltongue —”

Harry glanced at the beds surrounding them.

“The basilisk kills people by looking at them. But no one’s died — because no one looked it straight in the eye. Colin saw it through his camera. The basilisk burned up all the film inside it, but Colin just got Petrified. Justin — Justin must’ve seen the basilisk through Nearly Headless Nick! Nick got the full blast of it but he couldn’t die again! And Ara, you found Hermione and that Ravenclaw prefect with a mirror next to them. Hermione had just realised the monster was a basilisk. I bet you anything she warned the first person she met to look around corners with a mirror first! And that girl pulled out her mirror — and —”

Ara and Ron were both slack-jawed.

“What about Mrs. Norris?” Ron whispered.

“The water,” Ara said, she could see the scene of that first attack so clearly in her mind. “Moaning Myrtle had flooded the bathroom that day. I bet Mrs. Norris only saw the reflection of the basilisk in the water.”

They were almost giddy with excitement. They, or rather Hermione, had solved it! Everything made more and more sense as they reread the page. 

“The Basilisk flees only from the crowing of the rooster, which is fatal to it,” Harry read, “Hagrid’s roosters were killed! The Heir of Slytherin didn’t want one anywhere near the castle once the Chamber was opened! Spiders flee before the Basilisk! It all fits!”

“But how’s the basilisk getting around the place?” said Ron, “A giant snake — Someone would’ve seen —”

“Pipes,” Ara said, pointing at Hermione’s note, “It’s been using the plumbing.1’

“I’ve been hearing that voice inside the walls,” Harry said.

Ron suddenly grabbed both of their arms with his hands.

“The entrance to the Chamber of Secrets!” he said breathily, “What if it’s a bathroom? What if it’s in —”

“Moaning Myrtle’s bathroom,” Harry and Ara said simultaneously.

“This means you can’t be the only Parselmouth in the school, Harry,” Ara said, “The Heir of Slytherin’s one too. That’s how he’s been controlling the basilisk.”

“What’re we going to do?” said Ron, standing up quickly, “Should we go straight to McGonagall?”

“Let’s go to the staffroom,” said Harry, jumping to his feet, “She’ll be there in ten minutes. It’s nearly break.”

Ara jumped up too and the three of them sprinted out of the Hospital Wing and down the hall without stopping to say goodbye to Madam Pomfrey. Instead of waiting outside and risking getting detention for lingering in the halls they hurried into the staffroom all three bouncing and pacing as they waited for the bell. Instead of the bell, Professor McGonagall’s magically magnified voice echoed through the halls.

“All students return to their House dormitories at once. All teachers return to the staffroom. Immediately please.”

“Not another attack?” Harry cried, “Not now?”

“What are we going to do?” Ara said looking frantically between the boys.

“Go back to the dormitory?” Ron asked.

“No,” said Harry, eyes falling on a wardrobe full of the teachers’ lumpy coats, “In here. Let’s hear what it’s all about. Then we can tell them what we’ve found out.”

They quickly crammed themselves into the wardrobe and waited as the sounds of footsteps came from all around the castle. Through the space between the coats, they saw the teachers start to arrive each looking various degrees of confused and terrified. Finally, Professor McGonagall arrived shutting the door firmly behind her. 

“It has happened,” she said as the room waited with bated breath, “A student has been taken by the monster. Right into the Chamber itself.”

Gasps and squeal came from the teachers and Snape’s voice, even more tense and frightening than usual asked, “How can you be sure?” 

McGonagall looked incredibly pale and Ara was slightly worried that Professor McGonagall was going to start crying, “The Heir of Slytherin, left another message. Right underneath the first one. ‘Her skeleton will lie in the Chamber forever’.”

“Who is it? Which student?” Madam Hooch asked as she sunk into a chair and Professor Flitwick sobbed beside her.

“Ginny Weasley.”

Ron’s face had gone unnaturally pale and his freckles stood out starkly on his skin as he slid down the back of the wardrobe next to her. Ara had never seen such devastation on someone’s face before and she nearly broke down into tears at the sight of it. She nearly forgot they were hiding in a wardrobe in the staffroom until McGonagall spoke again.

“We shall have to send all the students home tomorrow,” she said, “This is the end of Hogwarts. Dumbledore always said —”

The staffroom door was flung open and every teacher in the room jumped and reached for their wands but it was just Lockhart flashing them all his usual incandescent smile. 

“So sorry — dozed off — what have I missed?”

Ara’s expression mirrored most of the teachers, a combination of hate and disgust, and Professor McGonagall looked very much like she wanted to hit him. 

Then Snape stepped forward, his mouth twisted into an evil smile, “Just the man. The very man. A girl has been snatched by the monster, Lockhart. Taken into the Chamber of Secrets itself. Your moment has come at last.”

Lockhart’s eyes started to widen and before he could object he was interrupted by Professor Sprout stepping forward.

“That’s right, Gilderoy,” she said, “Weren’t you saying just last night that you’ve known all along where the entrance to the Chamber of Secrets is?”

“I — well, I —” Lockhart said, looking frantically around for someone to come to his help. 

‘Yes, didn’t you tell me you were sure you knew what was inside it?” Professor Flitwick added stepping forward too.

“D-did I?” Lockhart spluttered, “I don’t recall —”

“I certainly remember you saying you were sorry you hadn’t had a crack at the monster before Hagrid was arrested,” Snape said, “Didn’t you say that the whole affair had been bungled and that you should have been given a free rein from the first?”

“I — I really never — you may have misunderstood —” Lockhart stammered.

“We’ll leave it to you, then, Gilderoy,” said Professor McGonagall, “Tonight will be an excellent time to do it. We’ll make sure everyone’s out of your way. You’ll be able to tackle the monster all by yourself. A free rein at last.”

Lockhart looked desperately at his colleagues now but all of them were looking at him with no remorse as he was cornered against the door. He looked like a weak excuse for a wizard now cowering away from the consequences of his lies. His usual smile was gone and he was trembling against the door, hand frantically searching for the doorknob. 

“V-very well,” he said, “I’ll — I’ll be in my office, getting — getting ready.” And he finally found the doorknob and managed to open it just enough to slip out. 

“Right,” Professor McGonagall said, giving the door a look of derision, “that’s got him out from under our feet. The Heads of Houses should go and inform their students what has happened. Tell them the Hogwarts Express will take them home first thing tomorrow. Will the rest of you please make sure no students have been left outside their dormitories.”

There were nods from around the room and they filed out grimly one after another. 

Harry, Ron, and Ara tumbled out of the wardrobe as soon as the last teacher shut the door behind them and they waited as long as they dared to give the teachers time to leave the corridor but give themselves just enough time to make it back to their Houses before their Heads of House got there.

Right when they had to split up to make it back to Gryffindor and Ravenclaw, Ara pulled Harry and Ron into a fierce hug, holding onto them as tightly as she could, “Please be safe,” she said, eyes shining up at them, “Whatever you do just please be safe.” both boys gave her somber nods and they all sprinted back to their Houses. 

Ara arrived only a minute or two before Flitwick and the whole House stared at her but she just ran right to Pandora and Romulus who were huddled in the back with some other seventh-years and the Ravenclaw prefects. She skidded to a stop in front of them and Pandora immediately pulled her into a hug.

“Where were you?” she demanded in French, “Romulus and I were worried sick when your friends said you had never shown up for your last class.”

“I can explain later,” Ara replied in English, “Have you heard what’s going on?”

“No,” Pandora frowned, “We weren’t told anything before they sent us all up here.”

“The monster took a student into the Chamber of Secrets and it’s going to kill her!” Ara said, the emotions of the past hour finally catching up as she was nearly in tears. 

“How do you know that?” Romulus said pulling her in front of him and looking around to make sure nobody outside their circle had heard Ara. 

Ara looked at her feet slightly guiltily, “I was in a wardrobe in the staff room when the teachers had their meeting —” 

“What?!” Pandora exclaimed, “What on earth were you doing there?”

“It’s a long story,” Ara said, “But Ginny Weasley was taken into the Chamber of Secrets and the Heir of Slytherin wrote another message on the wall below the first one. It said ‘Her skeleton will lie in the chamber forever’! And they’re sending us all home tomorrow!”

Pandora’s eyes were wide and she and Romulus looked more scared than Arabella had ever seen them. 

“Alright,” she said, looking up at the circle huddling around them, “Nobody outside of this circle needs to know the details. I’m sure that Flitwick will be along soon to tell us but we don’t want to cause a panic.”

They all nodded back looking too scared to disagree with her and just then the portrait opened again and Professor Flitwick stepped through. He didn’t tell them much, just that there had been an incident and they would be departing first thing in the morning and that they should start packing immediately. The room slowly emptied as people shuffled off to their dormitories, a general feeling of shock and fear causing the House to be nearly silent as they all headed off.

Ara headed up the stairs with her boys before splitting off from them to head to the girls’ dorm. The room was quiet as she entered as the other girls mechanically packed up their things. Even Luna seemed nervous which was wildly unusual for her. Ara tried to start packing but she found herself folding the same few shirts over and over again. Based on how well she knew Harry and Ron, what Hermione had told her about what the three of them had done at the end of the last school year, and the fact that Ginny was in danger she hadn’t doubted that Harry and Ron were going to try to get into the Chamber of Secrets or at least try to tell Lockhart what they knew. But without knowing what or when they were doing she had no choice but to wait to hear something. Wandering alone in the castle could not be a good idea at the moment especially because the monster had taken Ginny Weasley, a pureblood, down to the Chamber of Secrets to kill, which meant that no one was safe anymore. She ended up back downstairs in the common room for most of the evening trying to read and wait for news to come in. 

She was alone in the Common Room several hours later when Professor Flitwick burst through the portrait hole. 

“Ah, Miss Lestrange,” Professor Flitwick exclaimed, spotting her next to the fireplace, “Do you know where your brother and sister are? Romulus and Pandora?”

“I think they’re in their dorm,” Arabella said, standing up, “Did something happen? Is Ginny okay?”

Professor Flitwick looked startled that she knew about Ginny but said “Mr Potter and Mr Weasley just burst into Professor McGonagall’s office after rescuing Miss Weasley from the Chamber of Secrets. I’m here to tell your brother and sister that you all will not be sent home after all. Now I really must be going.”

Flitwick nodded to her and as soon as he had headed through the portrait to the passage to the Head Girl and Boy’s apartments Ara bolted out of the portrait hole and hurtled herself towards Professor McGonagall’s office. She barely knocked on the door before she flung it open and ran into the room.

“It’s true!” She cried, bursting into tears, and flung her arms around Ginny, “I was so worried! I’m so glad you’re okay”

Ginny laughed and returned the hug, “I can’t believe it either,” she whispered.

When she managed to detach herself from Ginny she hugged Harry and Ron too. 

“You did it! The entrance was really in Moaning Myrtle’s bathroom? You’re never allowed to do something like that ever again without me!”

Professor McGonagall cleared her throat and it was only then that Ara realised that not only was Professor Dumbledore back, but the Weasley’s parents were there as well. 

“Oh, sorry Professors, Mr. and Mrs. Weasley!”

“That’s alright dear,” said Professor Dumbledore, “But I believe Mr Potter was about to explain exactly what happened.

Ara nodded stepping back from the center of the room, grabbing Ginny’s hand and giving it a squeeze. Then Harry took a deep breath and began to explain the whole story. Telling them about the disembodied voice he had been hearing, Ara and Hermione’s research, Ron and his trip into the forest and meeting with Aragog, how they guessed Moaning Myrtle had been the girl killed before, and how they had found the note in Hermione’s hand… 

“Very well,” Professor McGonagall said as Harry paused to take a breath, “So you found out where the entrance was — breaking about a hundred school rules into pieces along the way I might add — but how on earth did you all get out of there alive, Potter?”

Harry glanced at Ginny and started on the part of the story Ara hadn’t heard yet. He told them about Fawkes, the Sorting Hat, and the sword.

When he finally stopped Dumbledore just stared at Harry, giving him a slight smile before asking, “What interests me most is how Lord Voldemort managed to enchant Ginny, when my sources tell me he is currently hiding in the forests of Albania.”

“W-what’s that?” Mr. Weasley stuttered, “You-Know-Who? En-enchant Ginny? But Ginny’s not — Ginny hasn’t been — has she?”

“It was this diary,” Harry jumped in, handing the destroyed diary to Dumbledore, “Riddle wrote in it when he was sixteen—” 

“Brilliant,” Dumbledore said, “Of course, he was probably the most brilliant student Hogwarts has ever seen.”

Ara was completely baffled and the Weasleys looked equally confused, she had never heard of a Riddle.

“Very few people know that Lord Voldemort was once called Tom Riddle. I taught him myself, fifty years ago, at Hogwarts. He disappeared after leaving the school — traveled far and wide — sank so deeply into the Dark Arts, consorted with the very worst of our kind, underwent so many dangerous, magical transformations, that when he resurfaced as Lord Voldemort, he was barely recognisable. Hardly anyone connected Lord Voldemort with the clever, handsome boy who was once Head Boy here.”

“But, Ginny,” Mrs. Weasley exclaimed, “What’s our Ginny got to do with — with — him?”

Ginny let go of Ara’s hand and started sobbing into her hands, “His d-diary! I’ve b-been writing in it, and he’s been w-writing back all year —” 

“Ginny!” Mr. Weasley cried eyebrows shooting up toward his hairline and eyes wide and bewildered, “Haven’t I taught you anything? What have I always told you? Never trust anything that can think for itself if you can’t see where it keeps its brain. Why didn’t you show the diary to me, or your mother? A suspicious object like that, it was clearly full of Dark Magic—”

“I d-didn’t know,” Ginny cried, “I found it inside one of the books Mum got me. I th-thought someone had just left it in there and forgotten about it —”

“Miss Weasley should go up to the hospital wing right away,” interrupted Dumbledore, “This has been a terrible ordeal for her. There will be no punishment. Older and wiser wizards than she have been hoodwinked by Lord Voldemort. Bed rest and perhaps a large steaming mug of hot chocolate. I always find that cheers me up,” Dumbledore crossed over to the door and smiled. “You will find that Madam Pomfrey is still awake. She’s just giving out Mandrake juice — I daresay the basilisk’s victims will be waking up any moment.”

“So Hermione’s okay!” said Ron cheerfully.

“There has been no lasting harm done, Ginny,” Dumbledore said.

Mrs. Weasley ushered Ginny out and was followed by Mr. Weasley who still looked incredibly disturbed.

“You know, Minerva,” said Dumbledore, “I think all this merits a good feast. Might I ask you to go and alert the kitchens?”

“Right,” said Professor McGonagall, “I’ll leave you to deal with Potter, Weasley, and Lestrange, shall I?”

“Certainly,” said Dumbledore.

She swept out the door and the three of them were left standing awkwardly in front of Dumbledore.

“Miss Lestrange,” Dumbledore said and Ara gulped slightly and took a small step forward.

“Yes, sir?”

“I must first thank you for the research you and Miss Granger did this year, your diligence is admirable. Secondly, I thank you for not going into the Chambers of Secrets.”

“Sir?” Ara asked curiously.

“I think your uncle might have caused an international wizarding incident if he found out you had been allowed to go into the Chamber on my watch and I am glad to avoid the mess.”

Ara blushed furiously and Harry and Ron shot confused glances in her direction.

“That being said,” Dumbledore continued, “I think it might be best for you to head to the Hospital Wing, I daresay Miss Granger could use a friendly face when she wakes and Miss Weasley could use a friend.”

“Yes, sir,” Ara smiled, heading for the door, as she passed Harry and Ron she whispered, “Good luck,” under her breath and gave them hopeful smiles. She hoped Dumbledore didn’t punish them for all the school rules they had broken. She and Ginny had broken a fair few too and got off without punishment although Ginny wasn’t breaking any of her own volition. 

Once she got into the corridor she was so happy about Ginny being safe, Hermione waking up, and the attacker being caught that she half skipped half ran down the corridor. When she arrived at the Hospital Wing she found that several of the Petrified students were already sitting up in bed. Colin waved at her cheerfully from across the room and she giggled and waved back to him with a grin. Ginny and Hermione were in adjoining beds now, Hermione still petrified and Ginny nursing a hot chocolate as her parents fussed around her. Ara noticed the addition of knitted blankets on both Hermione and Ginny’s beds and she smiled as she approached the Weasleys.

“Ara!” Ginny exclaimed, giving her a watery smile, “I’m glad you’re here! Come sit with me!”

Ara slipped by Mrs. Weasley with a shy smile and wrapped an arm around Ginny as she sat next to her on the bed. “I’m sorry for bursting in earlier, Mrs. Weasley and Mr. Weasley,” she said, “After we figured out about the basilisk and Moaning Myrtle right before we had to hide in a wardrobe and then run back to our Houses I just knew Harry and Ron were going to do something incredibly dangerous to try and save Ginny. So when Professor Flitwick said Ginny was okay and they were all in Professor McGonagall’s office I had to make sure myself. I’m so glad you’re ok Ginny, I should have known something was wrong when you started talking to me less and less.”

“It’s ok, Ara,” Ginny whispered, “I don’t remember so much of this year, it’s all a bit of a blur. You’re going to have to tutor me to make sure I actually learned everything I needed to this year.”

“Of course,” Ara said, smiling at her friend and laying her head on Ginny’s shoulder.

Mrs. Weasley looked down at Ara and Ginny slightly skeptically and Ara realised that the last time she had seen Mrs. Weasley was when she was insulting the Lestrange family at King’s Cross Station. Not that she blamed Mrs. Weasley for talking badly about her Lestrange relatives she just hoped that wasn’t all she saw when she looked at her. She was more a Valois than a Lestrange anyway she thought with pride. 

“You’re Arabella Lestrange, right?” Mrs. Weasley asked.

“Yes, ma’am,” Ara said nervously and she stood up from the bed and stuck out her hand for Mrs. Weasley to shake, “It’s nice to meet you.”

Then Mrs. Weasley smiled and hugged her instead. “It’s nice to meet you too, dear,” she said, “Percy’s told us about how you’ve been helping Harry and Ron with Defence Against the Dark Arts. how can I thank you enough for taking care of our boys?”

“It was my pleasure, Mrs. Weasley,” Arabella said, grinning into the hug, “I don’t think Hermione would have forgiven me if I had let them slack off while she was — absent, so I had to do what I could in the one class we share.”

“That’s right you’re a first-year but you take Defence Against the Dark Arts with the second-years.”

“Yes, my eldest brother is an Auror in France and he’s spent the last few years since he graduated raising me and he taught me a lot about Defence Against the Dark Arts along the way so Professor Dumbledore gave me permission to take that one class up a year.”

Mrs. Weasley finally started to loosen her hug on Ara as Madam Pomfrey was only one more bed away with the cure for Hermione and she couldn’t help but say as she stepped away from the embrace, “You give wonderful hugs! I don’t remember ever being hugged by my mother.”

Ara didn’t see the distressed look Molly shot Arthur as she was focused on Hermione but Molly’s motherly instincts had already kicked in, “Your mother has never hugged you?” she asked.

“Oh well, I suppose she might have when I was a baby, but she died when I was only a few months old, and then my father’s been in Azkaban for almost as long as my mother’s been dead, so I don’t remember if he ever hugged me either,” Ara wrinkled her nose, “Although I don’t really care so much about that because my siblings and I want nothing to do with him.”

“Oh, well, I’m sorry, dear,” Molly said kindly.

“It’s ok I still have all my siblings and my aunt, uncle, and cousin! Ginny and I actually first bonded over being the youngest in large families!”

Ginny had been watching the entire exchange with a somewhat amused look on her face. If she knew anything about her mother it was that Arabella was definitely going to be getting a Weasley sweater for Christmas next year and possibly all her siblings too. 

Madam Pomfrey finally arrived at Hermione’s bed with the cure and administered it before telling them she would probably wake in a few minutes as the cure took effect. Ara sat down next to Hermione on her bed now as her friend woke up for the first time in about two months. Slowly the glazed-over look of Hermione’s eyes faded and her limbs relaxed onto the bed beside her until finally her eyelids fluttered closed before opening again as Hermione properly awoke. 

“Arabella?” She asked as she slowly sat up in bed.   
“Hey, Hermione,” Ara said, smiling down at her friend, “They did it. Harry and Ron did it, they defeated the basilisk, you were right!”

Hermione smiled tiredly up at Ara and with Ginny safe on one side of her and Hermione on the other she couldn’t help but smile and heave a deep sigh of relief that the madness of their year at Hogwarts was finally coming to an end. 


	17. Homeward Bound: June 1993

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A little short but the last chapter already felt way too long. So this is technically the second part of this update. Anyway, I've begun working on the third book now but it may be a few weeks until I post next in order to get it up and running.

Ron arrived with Professor Lockhart not long after Hermione had woken up and the three of them headed down to the feast as soon as Madam Pomfrey would let Hermione go. Ara tried to persuade Ginny to come with them but she declined, a small smile on her face and eyes drooping and sad. She had decided to stay behind with her parents for the time being but promised that she would catch up with Ara soon and Ara planned on holding her to that promise.

The feast was in full swing by the time they got to the Great Hall, the room filled with students in their pajamas celebrating the return of Dumbledore and the defeat of the monster. Hermione spotted Harry through the crowd and took off at a run towards him, almost knocking him over with a hug as she said over and over, “You solved it! You solved it!”

Harry couldn’t stop smiling and allowed both Ara and Hermione to give him a few more hugs before Ara left them celebrating at the Gryffindor table to find her siblings and her boys at the Slytherin and Ravenclaw tables. Arabella wasn’t sure she had ever been to a better feast in her life. Everyone was dressed in their pajamas but no one was tired as the party stretched far into the night. The Petrified students trickled in as they were released from the Hospital Wing and Hagrid arrived from Azkaban in the early hours of the morning to much celebration. The excitement didn’t stop there either as it was announced Professor Lockhart would not be there for the rest of the term and that all exams were being cancelled as a special treat. Ara found that she couldn’t stop smiling and just felt incandescently happy that the year was coming to a close in such an unexpectedly positive way.

The rest of the term Hogwarts had finally returned to normal minus Defense Against the Dark Arts class and the grounds and halls were once again filled with students talking, laughing, and relishing the last days before the summer break. Ara spent very little time with her siblings as the days ticked away, using all her time to cling to the friends she wouldn’t see. She might be able to see Hermione and her boys in France over the summer but with no set plans she wasn’t going to take the last few days of her first year at Hogwarts for granted. 

In an effort to pretend she didn’t have to leave her friends, Ara had been putting off packing to leave until Pandora finally put her foot down and even helped her fit everything into her trunk the last night before they were set to take the Hogwarts Express back to London. Ara spent the first half of the train ride with her boys finishing off all the Honeydukes candy they had left and when she went to find Harry, Hermione, Ron, and Ginny’s compartment she was greeted at the door with a Filibuster Fireworks that Fred and George were setting off in the train so their mother couldn’t confiscate them when they got home. After wiping the soot off her face and laughing for a bit they practiced the Disarming spell until the station was in sight. Before they got up to leave Harry gave his home phone number with the Dursleys to Hermione and Ron so they didn’t have to rely on letters to keep in contact this summer. And when Ara mentioned that her uncle had a phone and knew how to use it Harry gave her the number too and she promised to call and write to him as well as Hermione and the Weasley’s. 

She hugged them goodbye and set off to find her siblings tugging her trunk down the train when she nearly ran into Draco coming out of a compartment. 

“Your brother just went that way looking for you,” Draco said pointing the way she was headed.

“Thanks,” Ara said, smiling at him. She had noticed him sulking around Hogwarts in the last days of classes and felt bad until Harry had told her what his father had done to get kicked out of the Hogwarts Board of Governors but she hated leaving things on a bad note with anyone. “Have a nice summer break, Draco!” 

He hesitated but nodded at her and finally said, “You too, Arabella.”

With one last smile, she slipped by him and out of the train. Pulling her trunk behind her she looked around hoping to find her siblings amongst the large crowd bustling about on the platform. She finally spotted a group of tall black-haired standing just outside the rest of the crowd and she wiggled her way through the crowd until she could drop her trunk and be swept into the arms of her eldest brother. Relaxing into his arms she knew she was home and the stress of the school year melted away. Seraphina pulled her into a hug too before Ajax swept her up onto his back, Seraphina grabbed her trunk and they headed out of the station to begin the journey home.


	18. The Prisoner of Azkaban: August 1993

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The beginning of Ara's adventures in Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban!

Arabella had had one of the best summers of her life she thought as she sat at one of the tables outside of Florean Fortescue's Ice Cream Parlor with Septimus. In addition to spending ridiculous amounts of time with her family, loads of her friends had been able to visit her in France. Fen, Toby, Omar, and Grant had come at the beginning of July and spent two whole weeks with her at Chateau de Chenonceau where they swam in the river, climbed the massive oak trees just outside the castle walls, and attempted to play Quidditch against her siblings. It was a doomed effort of course because not only were the five of them very inexperienced but Arabella’s older brothers Castor and Pollux had been training with the French National team all summer and the only reason they weren’t on the reserve team was that they were still attending school in Great Britain for most of the year. Castor and Pollux had eventually shown pity on them and given them a few proper Quidditch lessons and Ara’s boys had hardly talked of anything else for the rest of their visit. 

She had been sad to see them go but only a few weeks later Hermione came to visit her as well when Ara was back at Château de Chambord. Hermione hadn’t been at all surprised when she told her the Lestrange secret and she confessed that she had gotten several books on French Wizarding history before her family had left for their trip and had learned the secret herself. Hermione had said that she was incredibly flattered that Ara trusted her enough to want to tell her on her own and was even more grateful when Ara had agreed to take her to all the government buildings, museums, and historical sites across the city of Blois. One of the museum curators had spent an entire afternoon talking to Hermione about witch burnings in the 14th century and Ara felt bad for Professor Binns who read the book she had written for her History of Magic essay. Hermione’s family had left to visit other parts of France after a while and Ara and her siblings left to spend the last two and a half weeks of the summer at Diagon Alley a few days after. 

Ara scooped a large glob of whipped cream and strawberry ice cream off the top of her sundae and savoured its cool sweetness in contrast to the sticky heat of the London summer day. Septimus sat across from her sipping a strawberry milkshake and reading the paper. It was a new habit he had developed since the escape of Azkaban prisoner had been announced a few weeks before and Ara had noticed that he as well as her other older siblings were paying much closer attention to the news than usual. Ara herself was trying to avoid thinking about it but she knew they were all anxious about a prisoner being able to escape from Azkaban. Although she had never truly met him Ara’s worst nightmare was her father getting out of Azkaban and messing up her family. Romulus had just started working at the Ministry of Magic in the Department of International Magical Cooperation with the French embassy in London and the Ministry was almost solely focused on the manhunt for Sirius Black. 

Across the street, the door to Flourish and Blotts opened and a familiar head of messy black hair stepped out into the sun. Ara shot to her feet as the boy’s face turned towards the Ice Cream Parlor and a grin broke out as they made eye contact. Abandoning her sundae she raced across the street to greet Harry and he nearly dropped his books to catch her as she flung herself into his arms. 

“What are you doing here?” she cried, her smile glowing between her cheeks, “I thought you were with the Muggles the whole summer!”

“I ran away from the Dursleys after I accidentally blew up my aunt and ended up taking the Knight Bus here.” 

“You blew up your aunt?” Ara laughed, “That’s brilliant! Are you in trouble for using magic outside of school though?”

“Somehow, no,” Harry said, “The Minister of Magic was at the Leaky Cauldron when I got there but he wasn’t mad at me.”

“That’s strange,” Ara said, eyebrows scrunched together, “Did he say why he was there or why you aren’t in trouble?” 

“No, just said something about circumstances being special with the current environment and that it was just good I was safe,” Harry said, “Whatever that means.”

“Well, I reckon we shouldn’t ask too many questions and just celebrate that you weren’t expelled! Can we buy you an ice cream?” 

Harry looked across the street where he spotted one of Ara’s many older brothers watching them closely from a table just outside Florean Fortescue’s Ice Cream Parlor and if Harry wasn’t already sweating from the summer day he certainly was now. At first glance, her brother looked as if he was reclining casually reading the Daily Prophet but Harry could tell by his piercing stare that he was about as relaxed as a lion on the prowl. Gulping slightly he turned back to Ara who was smiling sweetly up at him. 

“Er, well I’ve got to get the rest of my school supplies—” 

“Oh, that’s perfect!” Ara said, “Septimus and I have to get our school supplies as well! We can all go together!” 

“Umm, well,” Harry said, trying to think of a reason not to go. Not that he didn’t want to spend time with Ara, it was just that her brother was rather intimidating fifth-year Slytherin. He glanced back at Septimus across the street and then back to Ara whose big blue eyes seemed to push down any hesitation Harry felt. “I suppose we could do that.”

“Brilliant!” Ara said, grabbing Harry’s free hand and tugging him across the street to her brother, “Harry, this is my brother Septimus! Septimus, this is my friend Harry! Harry’s going to come with us to get all our school supplies!”

“Is that so?” Septimus asked, eyes scanning up and down the Gryffindor third-year appraisingly as Harry shifted uncomfortably under his stare.

Ara didn’t notice anything amiss though and powered on, “Yes, he is! Now, Harry, we have to go back to the Leaky Cauldron to get our key for Gringotts Bank to get the money for school supplies as well as Castor and Pollux’s birthday presents why don’t you come with us to drop off your books in your room and then we can head out!”

“Sure,” Harry said. 

He let Ara take the lead as the three of them headed back to the Leaky Cauldron content to listen to her babble away about her summer. Before he knew it he was riding down into the depths of Gringotts bank deeper than he had ever been before they finally reached the Lestrange vault. The goblin leading them said nothing as they got out just grabbing a small bell and shaking it as they headed down the corridor. The corridor quickly opened into an atrium with the door to the vault on the other side and Harry quickly realized what the bell was for. Shrinking away from the goblin and the bell as they walked through the atrium was a great white dragon crying out as he tried to get as far away from them as possible. Harry just stared in shock, he had heard that dragons guarded the high-security vaults in the depths of Gringotts but he hadn’t thought the rumours could be right. 

“It’s barbaric isn’t it,” Ara said, staring sadly over at the dragon, “A mighty beast, reduced to this. We would get rid of it if we could but even though we have access to the vault we don’t control it. It’s still controlled by our father and uncle, neither of whom would ever give the dragon up.”

Harry couldn’t find the words to reply and just stared dumbly as the goblin unlocked the vault and they stepped in. Harry had seen three Gringotts vaults before this one, his own, well stocked with the gold his parents had left him, the Weasley’s, that was mostly empty, and vault 713, where the Philosopher’s Stone had been stored until Hagrid had retrieved it before Harry’s first year at Hogwarts. None compared to the Lestrange vault which stretched through several rooms and was filled not only with Wizard money but also with various heirlooms including jewels, chalices, and various other treasures strewn about on shelves and tables. He didn’t know where to look as Ara and Septimus each scooped several handfuls of coins into their fine leather pouches; the Lestrange vault contained such an unimaginable fortune that he could hardly believe what he was seeing was real.

He was still gawking at the room around him when Ara grabbed his hand, “Are you coming?” she said. 

Harry just nodded and let Ara pull him back out to the cart and at her request told her the whole story of blowing up his aunt that left her in peals of giggles by the time they got back to the streets of Diagon Alley. They went into nearly every store along Diagon Alley, including another trip to Flourish and Blotts for the Lestrange’s books, before finally ending up several hours later lounging back in front of Florean Fortescue’s Ice Cream Parlor their purchases piled all around them. 

“Oh, Ara!” Septimus said, sitting up again, “We still have to get Castor and Pollux’s birthday present!”

“I almost forgot! Sept, can you watch the bags while Harry and I pick them up? Quality Quidditch Supplies is only a few stores down!”

“Do you have enough money left?” Septimus asked. 

Ara opened her leather pouch and peered in, “Yeah, I’ve got plenty. Coming, Harry?”

Harry gave Septimus a nod before he hurried after Ara who was already bouncing down the crowded street. 

Ara headed straight into Quality Quidditch Supplies without hesitation while Harry slowed as he walked by the front window which was proudly displaying the Firebolt next to the sign reading “Price on Request”. He ducked into the store after a longing gaze at the broom looking for Ara down one of the aisles but she was already at the counter talking to the clerk.

“And you want two of them?” The clerk was saying as Harry approached, looking down at Ara skeptically. 

“Yes, please,” Ara said, giving the clerk her most radiant smile as she set her leather pouch still heavy with Galleons on the counter with a small thud.

“What are you getting Castor and Pollux?” Harry asked curiously. 

Of all her brothers those were the two Harry was most familiar with because they were two of the Chasers on the Slytherin Quidditch team and he had to admit that while Flint’s strategy was often quite aggressive the Lestrange twins usually stayed within the bounds of the rules and were incredibly good Chasers. Oliver Wood had lectured the Gryffindor team about the Lestrange twins before Gryffindor’s match with Slytherin both years Harry had been on the team so far and Harry was fairly confident that Oliver had a love-hate relationship with them, torn between admiring their skill and hating that he was playing Keeper against them.

“You’ll see,” Ara said with a smirk and Harry was starting to put the pieces together when the clerk came back with two brand new Firebolts. 

He set them on the counter in front of Ara and Harry and everyone in Quality Quidditch supplies was fixated on the two broomsticks on the counter. The clerk still kept the brooms close to him on the counter, a hand set over the handles as if to stop Ara from attempting to run off with them and sneered down his nose at her as he held out his hand patronisingly. Ara just looked up at him calmly and set her small leather pouch on the counter. The pouch didn’t seem to Harry like it could hold nearly enough Galleons to pay for  _ two _ Firebolts but when Ara opened the pouch and started dumping her Galleons out on the table the stream of Galleons pouring onto the counter didn’t seem to have an end. She and the clerk divided the Galleons into piles of tens and then hundreds and Harry completely lost track of the price as the hundreds added up. Harry wasn’t the only one in a state of shock, the clerk, as well as the rest of the customers, seemed just as bewildered until finally, the counting had stopped and the clerk had stored the Galleons away. 

The clerk gulped, “Is there anything else I can do for you today, miss?” 

“Yes, actually,” Ara said, “You do deliveries as well, correct?”

“Yes, miss, but it’s an extra fee.”

Ara waved her hand dismissively, “Yes, yes, how much is the fee?”

“Fifteen Galleons, miss.”

Ara slid fifteen additional Galleons across the counter towards the clerk saying, “I’d like both of them delivered to the Lestrange Estate in London as soon as possible, please. My brother Romulus Lestrange will be expecting their arrival there.”

Harry could hear other patrons whispering behind them when Ara informed the clerk of the destination of the broomsticks and from what he could make out it didn’t seem like they had nice things to say about Ara or the Lestranges. 

“Right away, miss,” the clerk said, “I’ll deliver them myself by the end of the day!” 

“Thank you,” Ara said, giving him the most sickeningly sweet smile she could muster. Then she turned on her heel, long silky black hair whipping around, straightened her jewelled headband and headed for the door chin up and posture stiff. 

“Coming, Harry?” she asked, looking over her shoulder as she opened the door and Harry realized he was still standing at the counter a rather dazed expression on his face and he flushed and hurried across the store and held the door open as she stepped back out onto the street. 

As soon as they had passed out of view of the front window of Quality Quidditch Supplies, Ara relaxed her tensed shoulders and as she sighed the haughty expression she had worn while talking to the clerk slid off her face.

“Sorry about that, Harry,” she said, shuffling her feet over the cobblestones, “I just hate how quickly people go from patronizing and condescending to tripping over their feet to be polite as soon as they find out you have money. I feel like they should just be polite from the beginning rather than just making assumptions about someone based only on how they look. Plus,” Ara said, lips quirking into a small smirk and eyes flashing mischievously as she made eye contact with him for the first time since they had entered the store, “I love proving people who underestimate me wrong, even if it’s not for any accomplishment of my own.” 

“Oh, that’s no problem,” Harry said, grinning down at her, “I’m just worried Oliver Wood is going to finally lose it when he finds out Slytherin has two Firebolts on their team.”

Ara laughed, “Well, broomsticks don’t make a Quidditch player but I would love to see his face when he hears about the Firebolts!”

“If he hasn’t heard by the time we get to Hogwarts I’ll give you a signal and tell him at the feast so you can watch!” 

“Brilliant!” 

The pair finally got back to Septimus to where they had left Septimus and found that he was surrounded by five new people all with identically beautiful black hair and assorted blue and black eyes. Harry slowed his feet as he recognized three of the new arrivals as Ara’s older siblings who had been at Hogwarts during his first two years and he assumed the other two must be her oldest siblings. He had had more fun than he expected with Ara and Septimus that afternoon but the sheer number of siblings Ara had was intimidating. It wasn’t like with the Weasley’s where they were all friendly (except perhaps Percy) and funny at school. Ara’s siblings tended to keep to their family and a few close friends and seemed so much larger than life than the Weasleys. He tried to keep his breathing calm though as he steadily approached them, letting Ara run ahead into her eldest brother’s arms, and reminded himself that he had things in common with them. Just like him they’d grown up without their parents, especially the younger ones, and lived at their aunt and uncle’s house in the summer with their one cousin. Although based on the look of adoration Ara got on her face whenever she talked about her cousin, Harry figured they probably had a better relationship than he had with Dudley, even though that wasn’t a very high bar. 

“Hello,” Harry said, finally coming to a stop in front of the Lestranges, “I’m Harry, it’s nice to meet you.”

“You are so sweet!” Ara’s eldest sister said, beaming at him, “I’m Seraphina, Arabella’s oldest sister! She’s told us so much about you!”

“Phina!” Ara whined, blushing furiously.

“What?” Seraphina replied, smiling innocently down at Ara, “You’ve told us all about how he saved your friend Ginny at the end of last year!”

Harry felt himself blushing as red as Ara and he ducked his head, “Well, Ara was the one doing all the research with Hermione to figure it out. Ron and I just happened to be the ones to go down to the Chamber in the end.”

“Yes, we’re very proud of our little Defense Against the Dark Arts prodigy,” said Ara’s eldest brother, still holding Ara protectively in front of him “ I’m Ajax by the way.”

He was easily the most intimidating of the Lestranges Harry had met, his arm muscles bulged under his leather jacket and maybe it was because Ara was so small for her age but he seemed huge in comparison. Harry had to admit that he was incredibly handsome, sharp jawline covered in a thin layer of scruff and intensely blue eyes exactly the same shade as Ara’s. His hair while black and ruffled like Harry’s was longer slightly curled and artfully messy in the way Harry’s had never been. The rest of Ara’s brothers were still boys, although they all looked mature for their ages, Ajax was irrefutably a man. 

“Ajax was my tutor,” Ara said, extricating herself from his arms, “He’s an Auror back in France and knows all about Defense Against the Dark Arts!”

“She’s one of the best in the class,” Harry said, “Even though she’s a year younger.”

Ara blushed again and Ajax who had been weighing Harry with his eyes up until that point looked down at his littlest sister and the intense expression softened to an adoring smile and he dropped a kiss onto the top of Ara’s head and whispering something in French in Ara’s ear that made her positively glow with happiness.

“Are you staying at the Leaky Cauldron?” Seraphina asked.

“Yeah, I’m staying there until we go back to Hogwarts.”

“By yourself?” she said.

“Yes, my aunt and uncle don’t want me at their house for the rest of the summer,” Harry said, “They’re Muggles and don’t like magical stuff at all.”

“Well, you must come have dinner with us!” Seraphina said, waving her hand dismissively when Harry tried to interject, “No, I insist! We love meeting Ara’s friends from school, plus I hear you’re a Seeker! I was the Seeker on the Slytherin team when I was at Hogwarts!”

“She’s a real Quidditch fanatic,” Ara said, laughing as Seraphina shushed her with a smile.

“So, what do you say Harry? Will you have dinner with us?” Seraphina asked.

“If you insist,” Harry said. 

On that note, Seraphina promptly started directing Pandora, Castor, and Pollux, who had been watching with quiet smiles, as well as Ajax to help Arabella, Septimus, and Harry carry all their shopping back to the Leaky Cauldron. When Harry tried to object she just waved him off saying they had plenty of extra hands and within moments was herding along the rest of her family back towards the Leaky Cauldron, arms laden with packages. 


	19. Dementors on the Train: September 1993

Harry ended up eating almost every meal for the next week with the Lestrange family and found he had a lot more fun than he could have ever imagined. The Lestranges seemed distant and aloof on the surface but the more time he spent with them the more he discovered that Pandora had the quirkiest sense of humour, Seraphina reminded him strongly of Mrs Weasley, Ajax had the best stories from his time as an Auror, Castor and Pollux knew more about Quidditch than anyone Harry had met even including Oliver Wood, Romulus was able to out debate anyone at the table, Septimus was quiet but Ara’s most trusted confidante and they all had a soft spot when it came to Arabella.

When the Weasleys and Hermione finally showed up the day before they were returning to school he introduced the Weasleys to the Lestranges. Mrs Weasley had been sceptical at first but she appreciated Seraphina and Ajax for looking out for Harry while he was staying at the Leaky Cauldron and already liked Arabella from when they had met at the end of the last school year so she was quick to warm to the rest of them once learning they didn’t share any of the pure-blood supremacy ideas that the Lestrange family of previous generations had been known to support fully. Castor and Pollux and Fred and George were the only ones who seemed to actually disagree but it was likely only because they were on opposing Quidditch teams at Hogwarts and Fred and George had a lot more experience playing them than Harry did. 

They parted ways the next morning as they travelled to King’s Cross separately but Ara had promised to meet up with Harry, Ron, and Hermione later on the train after she had located her other friends. The Lestranges wove through the Muggles crowding King’s Cross and slipped through the barrier to Platform 9 ¾. Ara could hardly believe that it had already been a year since she stood on the platform with her family and boarded the Hogwarts Express for the first time. 

Castor and Pollux were already edging away from the rest of them, eager to show their friends their new broomsticks and Quidditch Co-Captain badges. The previous Slytherin Quidditch Captain, Marcus Flint, was repeating his seventh year after failing his NEWTs in the spring but he had not been allowed to remain Captain and was only allowed to play on the team if he kept his grades up. They didn’t get away without being clapped on the shoulder in that uniquely male way by Ajax and receiving hugs from Seraphina. Romulus hadn’t been able to make it because the Ministry of Magic was already working to prepare for the Quidditch World Cup the next summer and Pandora had left the night before to go to Beauxbatons to begin on her journey to become a Professor. After they had left, Septimus got his hugs from Seraphina and Ajax before stepping back to let them smother Ara for a few minutes. 

“Do be careful this year, mon ange,” Seraphina said, cupping Ara’s cheeks in her hands as she kissed her forehead and smiled down at her littlest sister, “There are going to be dementors guarding Hogwarts this year because of Sirius Black’s escape and you need to stay as far away from them as possible. The last time a dementor was near you, you didn’t react well and after the Chamber of Secrets being opened last year I just want you to have a quiet year at Hogwarts.”

“I’m always careful!” Ara said, smiling up at Seraphina.

Septimus snorted from behind Seraphina and Ara shot him a sharp look. 

“She’ll be fine,” Ajax said, pulling Ara into his arms, “With everything I’ve taught her, she’s several years ahead of her classmates and Septimus will be there to look out for her.”

“I won’t be if we miss the train,” Septimus said, eying the clock. 

“Alright, alright,” Seraphina said, handing Ara her messenger bag, “You have all your stuff, yes, Ara?” 

“Yes, mum,” Ara said, rolling her eyes.

“Don’t give your mother that kind of attitude,” Ajax teased, “We’ll miss you, mon petit fleur, don’t forget to write!”

“I’ll write you at least once a week, darling,” Seraphina said, smothering Ara with another hug and several more kisses, “Alright, well, off you go then.”

“Bye Phina! Bye Ajax!” Giving her brother one more peck on the cheek before she finally followed Septimus, passing her trunk up to him on the train. She turned and waved goodbye one last time as the train pulled away and they disappeared into the smoke. 

Septimus and Arabella went their separate ways after Ara found Omar, Toby, Grant, and Fen in a compartment that was covered in paint and feathers and the boys themselves seemed to be wrestling with something on the floor.

“Well,” said Septimus, cocking his head and examining the chaos before him, “Good luck with that — I’ll be with Graham, Cassius, and Adrian if you need me.”

Ara watched her brother walk off and then looked back through the glass door of the compartment where none of the boys had noticed her yet. Ara sighed smiling fondly at her boys as she hiked her messenger bag higher onto her shoulder, grabbed her trunk, and slid open the door to the compartment. 

“What on earth are you doing?” 

“Nothing too interesting,” Grant said, reclining against the window on the far side of the cabin. He was the only one without random stripes of paint on his clothes and other than a stray feather in his blonde curls was altogether unruffled. The other three not so much. Omar was holding onto the feet of an owl while Toby tried to keep it still and Fen poured on bright blue paint.

“Ara!” said Toby, looking over his shoulder to grin at her, “Good to see you! It’s really been too long!”

“Toby,” Ara said, trying to contain her laughter until she had gotten answers, “Whose owl is that?”

“Hugo’s!” Fen said from where he was cheerfully painting the poor bird’s wing.

“He came in and was yammering on about all the trips he’d been on over the summer,” Omar said, “He was acting like none of us knew what Italy was.”

“And it’s not like we could tell him we had spent part of our summer in a castle with a princess,” Fen said.

“And then he mentioned how his parents had bought him his own owl this year and how we could see it whenever we went to the Owlery to use the school owls,” Toby said.

“But we decided we didn’t want to wait to meet this marvellous bird he was describing,” Grant said, “So they got it into their heads to help Hugo make his owl even more special.”

“And the blue paint?” Ara asked.

“Well that was just luck,” Toby said, “We were going to paint one of the walls of our dorm blue this year so Fen had brought a can of blue paint.”

“We can always get more paint somewhere else,” Fen shrugged, “This seemed like a worthy cause!”

Ara laughed, “You all really have the most ridiculous ideas!  _ Scourgify! _ ”

The paint cleared off of the floor and seats of the compartment and Grant moved his feet so she could sit on the other side of the now clean bench. 

“Thanks, Ara!” Fen said. 

“Now all we have to do is get poor Bartholomew here back to his cage without anyone noticing,” Toby said, standing up the owl now sitting disgruntledly on his arm. 

Ara did feel bad for the owl but she knew she still had some owl treats from feeding Hedwig the other day in her pocket and that the paint would be easily removed once Jason and Hugo discovered their roommates’ prank. 

“Alright,” She said, how about Grant and I walk from here to the baggage compartment and we’ll let you know if we see Jason and Hugo anywhere and if we don’t see them you can run and return the owl.”

“Brilliant!” Toby said, grinning ear to ear, face still streaked with blue paint. 

Ara laughed and slipped out of the compartment with Grant. “Now how did you avoid getting covered in paint and feathers?” 

“Well there were already too many people crowding the owl,” Grant said, a twinkle in his eye, “So, I offered to keep watch.”

“A most noble role” Ara laughed, “And as a bonus, you avoided getting slashed by Bartholomew’s talons!”

“I think Toby might have those scars on his arm permanently,” Grant agreed. 

They had been trying to peer inconspicuously into the compartments they passed on their way to the baggage compartment and they hadn’t seen any of the other Ravenclaws in their year so they hurried back to their compartment to give the others the go-ahead. 

“Coast is clear,” Ara said, sliding the door open, “They must be in a different car.”

“Brilliant!” Toby said again, ignoring the small trails of blood running down his arm from where the owl had slashed him and where the talons were digging into his forearm from the owl still perched there. Toby, Omar, and Fen slipped into the hall, Omar and Fen trying to shield Toby and the owl from being seen by any of the other students. 

Ara had unrolled some gauze from the first aid kit Ajax had sent with her by the time they got back and bandaged Toby’s arm for him. The next few hours the group recounted stories from their time in France, exaggerated their other adventures from the summer, and each of them had eaten several disgusting flavours of Bertie Bott’s Every-Flavour Beans as they dared each other to try the most disturbing looking ones. 

Several hours later they were sprawled all over the cabin limbs overlapping and intertwined as they dozed comfortably as the sun dipped below the horizon. Ara yawned and smiled, her head back lying against someone’s stomach and checking the time. 

“Oh! I promised I would find Harry on the train!” Ara said.

“But you’re such a good pillow,” Fen said, curled around her hip. 

“We have to get up to change into our robes at some point anyway. I may as well change and then go find him for a bit but I’ll come back before we get to Hogwarts,” Arabella promised. The boys groaned as Ara pulled herself to her feet stretching her arms and yawning again. “Please try to change before I get back,” she said, stepping out of the compartment.

It was just starting to rain when Draco Malfoy showed up at Harry, Ron, and Hermione’s compartment. Draco poked his head in from the corner eyes sweeping across Harry, Ron, and Hermione with a frown on his face.

“Is she there?” Goyle said trying to poke his head from the corridor as well.

“Shut up!” Malfoy hissed, ramming his elbow into Goyle’s stomach and forcing him back into the corridor before returning to the Gryffindor trio, “Well, look who it is, Potty and the Weasel.”

He stepped into the compartment as Crabbe and Goyle snickered behind him. 

“I heard your father finally got his hands on some gold this summer, Weasley,” Malfoy drawled, “Did your mother die of shock?”

Ron jumped to his feet, face rapidly turning as red as his hair, knocking Crookshanks’s basket to the ground in his haste. Crookshanks let out a muffled howl from the basket and Professor Lupin, who had been their silent companion for the journey so far, snorted as he slept.

“Who’s that?” asked Malfoy, already backing away when he noticed Lupin.

“New teacher,” said Harry, getting ready to hold back or help Ron if necessary, “What were you saying Malfoy?”

Malfoy scowled fiercely but was smart enough to not start a fight right in front of a teacher. 

“C’mon,” he grumbled, stepping back into the corridor, “—’s not here anyway —”

Malfoy stalked off down the corridor and Harry and Ron sat back down. 

“Who do you think he was looking for?” Hermione asked. 

“No idea,” grunted Ron, still fuming, “I pity them though —”

Ara noticed that the rain had picked up and the sky had gotten significantly darker as she stepped out of the girl’s restroom now changed into her Hogwarts robes. She set off down the train looking for Harry, Ron, and Hermione’s compartment hoping that they were getting close to Hogwarts. A few cars down the train she still hadn’t found them when a compartment door she had just passed slid open and she heard someone call her name. She turned and found Draco Malfoy leaning against the compartment door and smirking at her.

“Oh, hello, Draco,” Ara smiled, “How was your summer holiday?”

“Oh, pretty good, you know,” Draco said, “But I’m looking forward to being back at Hogwarts. You know I can go to Hogsmeade this year.”

Ara had been excited that she had grown nearly an inch over the summer but it seemed Draco had grown at least twice that. It was crazy how much people could change in just a few short months. “I’ve still got another year to wait before I can go to Hogsmeade,” Ara said, “But it’s brilliant to see everyone again! I was actually on my way now to find Harry —”

“At least come say hi first,” Draco interrupted, “Theo and Blaise are in here and —”

Draco trailed off as the train started to slow.

“What?” he said, “We can’t be there yet! It’s too early!”

The train came to a stop with a lurch and Ara lurched to the side only avoiding running face-first into the corridor wall because she fell into Draco’s chest instead.

“Oof,” Ara said, trying to regain her balance, “Sorry about that.”

“It’s fine,” Draco was saying when all the lights went out.

Ara let out a squeak and clung to Draco’s arm feeling for the compartment door in the dark.

“Let’s get inside,” Draco said, stepping slowly back into the compartment as his eyes adjusted to the dark.

“Can you see what’s outside?” Ara asked, slipping past Draco to the window. 

“It’s really dark out,” Theo said, cheek pressed against the glass, “But it doesn’t look like Hogsmeade.”

Ara wiped some fog off the window, “Are those people getting on the train?” 

Draco whipped around and as quickly as possible in the dark slid the compartment door shut before backing up as far as he could towards the window while keeping Ara behind him.

“Lumos,” came from the dark and the compartment was lit by the small light emitting from the tip of Ara’s wand just in time for them all to see the creature at the door. 

Ara whimpered as the door slid open and a chill filled the compartment. The dementor hovered in the entrance, its rasping breath grating on Ara’s nerves and her blood turning to ice in her veins. She felt her chest tighten and she gasped for breath. The dementor glided out and continued down the corridor but Ara was unaware of it, her eyes glazed over and her body numb. She was distantly aware of someone calling her name but darkness filled her vision and she crashed into unconsciousness.


	20. Chocolates: September 1993

Ara could feel her fingers tingling and although her eyelids felt like they weighed a ton she strained to open them blinking as the light filled her eyes. A slim pale face filled most of her vision, panicked grey eyes framed by scrunched silver eyebrows and his mouth was moving but her ears were still ringing in her head. 

Finally, the ringing quieted and she could hear Draco, “Arabella! Arabella! Are you okay?”

Ara realized she was slumped on the ground in Draco’s arms and groaned as she tried to push herself up.

“I don’t react well to dementors,” Ara said, rubbing her eyes trying to get the last bits of haze cleared. 

“I don’t think there’s anyone who reacts well to dementors,” a man in the compartment door said. His tattered robes seemed like they were at least as old as Ara and hung largely off his skinny frame. His face was tired and troubled with old scars slashed across it. He took a step into the compartment and crouched down next to her. 

“Who are you?” Draco said, fingers tightening around Ara.

“Professor Lupin,” he replied giving Ara a kind smile, “I’m the new Defense Against the Dark Arts teacher. What’s your name, dear?”

“Arabella,” she replied, smiling weakly.

“Nice to meet you, now have some chocolate,” he said, holding out “It’ll help and we’ll be at Hogwarts in less than ten minutes.”Ara nodded and accepted the chocolate, nibbling on the corner. “I’ll be right back. I'm just going to check on another student a few compartments down.”

He swept out of the compartment and into the next hall where Harry was still sitting on the floor the wedge of chocolate still uneaten in his hand. 

“I haven’t poisoned that chocolate, you know,” Lupin said, looking at the white-faced boy on the ground. 

Harry ducked his head but took a bite of the chocolate and almost immediately regained some colour in his cheeks. 

“We’ll be at Hogwarts in five minutes,” Lupin said, “Are you alright, Harry?”

“Fine,” Harry muttered.

Lupin nodded and silently left again. Arriving back at the cabin with Arabella and the Slytherin boys he was pleasantly surprised that the boys had helped her onto the seat and were fussing over her even if she still looked limp and pale. He stepped back into the compartment as the train pulled to a stop.

“Do you think you’ll be able to walk to the carriages?” Lupin asked Arabella. 

“Umm —” Arabella whispered, worrying her lip, “I don’t know —”

“That’s alright,” Lupin said, smiling gently, “I can carry you to the carriages if you’d like. I don’t want you to overexert yourself and faint again.”

“Thank you, Professor,” Arabella said.

Draco reluctantly released Ara’s hand as Lupin bent down and scooped Arabella into his arms. Ara thought that while Professor Lupin looked battered and thin, he was surprisingly strong as he carried her out of the compartment.

“Are you a first-year, Arabella?” Professor Lupin asked as he stepped off the train.

“No, sir, I’m a second-year this year but I take Defense Against the Dark Arts with the third-years.”

Professor Lupin just nodded privately thinking she was almost worryingly small and light for a twelve-year-old. They had barely made it halfway across the platform when Lupin heard someone behind them shout, “Arabella!” And he turned to see who it was. 

A dark-haired boy was pushing through the crowd towards them and he began calling out in French at them. Professor Lupin was baffled for a moment before Arabella called back weakly to the boy also in French. 

“That’s my brother,” Arabella whispered to Professor Lupin and he stepped to the side of the platform to let her brother catch up when there was a disturbance around the nearest door of the train as two more black-haired boys pushed through the crowd towards them. “And those are my other brothers,” Ara sighed. 

“What the hell happened?” The first brother said, finally emerging from the crowd. He looked the man carrying his sister up and down, “And who the hell are you?”

“Septimus,” Ara said softly, “This is Professor Lupin, the new Defence Against the Dark Arts teacher and I think you know what happened.”

“You passed out because of the Dementors again?” 

“Yeah, and Professor Lupin was kind enough to give me some chocolate and carry me to the carriages.”

Septimus eyed Professor Lupin with new interest, “Thank you for helping my sister, Professor Lupin.”

The two other boys finally arrived, both angrily speaking French and even though Lupin didn’t speak and French he could tell that they were cursing at the students walking lazily across the platform who had delayed their arrival to their sister. 

“I was just carrying Arabella to the carriages because she said she wasn’t sure she would be able to walk. I recommend that she goes to the Hospital Wing once she gets to Hogwarts.”

“Thank you for your help, sir,” one of the two identical boys said, “But we can take her from here.”

“If you’re sure,” Professor Lupin said, gently setting Ara on her feet but still holding her up.

Ara reached her arms out tiredly and Castor picked her up so that she was balanced on his hip, her arms around his neck and face buried in his neck. 

“I’ll get her luggage,” Septimus offered, darting back towards the train. Pollux grabbed the rest of their luggage and they headed towards the carriages. 

Ara fell asleep and woke up on her brother’s shoulder several times on their journey up to the castle and the next time she was truly awake she was in Professor McGonagall’s warm office enjoying the heat of the blazing fire and while still curled against Castor’s chest. Harry and Hermione were also there, Harry looking a little worse for wear.

“I’m fine,” Harry was saying, “I don’t need anything —”

“Oh, it’s you, is it,” Madam Pomfrey said, pressing her hand against Harry’s forehead and staring closely at him. “I suppose you’ve been doing something dangerous again? And you’ve dragged Miss Lestrange into it?”

“It was a dementor, Poppy,” Professor McGonagall said grimly.

Madam Pomfrey clucked disapprovingly, sharp eyes glittering angrily, “Setting dementors around a school! He won’t be the last one who collapses,” She crossed over to Ara, brushing the hair away from her forehead, “Yes, they’re all clammy. Terrible things they are, and the effect they have on people who are already delicate —”

“I’m not delicate!” Harry objected heatedly.

“Of course you’re not,” She said distractedly, her fingers pressed against Ara’s neck as she took her pulse and then swooped down on Harry to do the same. 

“What do they need?” asked Professor McGonagall keenly, “Bedrest? Should they spend tonight in the hospital wing perhaps?”

“I’m fine,” Harry said, jumping out of his seat.

“Well, you should have some chocolate, at the very least,” Madam Pomfrey said.

“I’ve already had some, Professor Lupin gave me some. He gave it to all of us,” Harry said, and glanced at Ara, “Er, well, at least everyone in my compartment. Ara wasn’t with us.”

“He gave me some too,” Ara said, speaking for the first time.

“Did he, now?” Madam Pomfrey said, “So we’ve finally got a Defence Against the Dark Arts teacher who knows his remedies?”

“Are you sure you feel alright, Potter?” Professor McGonagall said fiercely, staring down at Harry over her square-shaped glasses.

“Yes,” said Harry.

“Very well. But Miss Lestrange should really spend the night in the Hospital Wing,” Professor McGonagall said, looking over at Ara who was still slumped over in the arms of her brother.

“Most certainly,” Madam Pomfrey said, nodding crisply. 

“Madam Pomfrey, Professor McGonagall,” Castor said, “Shouldn’t Arabella come to the feast first? Just for a bit to get some food? Pollux, Septimus, and I sit with her and take her to the hospital wing as soon as she’s had some food.”

Professor McGonagall looked over at Madam Pomfrey, who nodded pensively, “It would be good for her to get some nourishment but I don’t want her there any longer than is absolutely necessary. And make sure she gets some more chocolate!”

“Thank you,” Castor said, “Also if I were you I would expect an owl from my uncle in the next few days about the incident on the train. Just as a fair warning.”

“We’ll keep that in mind,” said Professor McGonagall, “Now, would the three of you kindly wait outside while I have a quick word with Miss Granger about her course schedule, then we can go down to the feast together.”

Castor nodded and he carried Ara out of the room, Harry opening the door for him. 

Only a few minutes later Professor McGonagall was gliding down the staircase and into the Great Hall. Harry and Hermione split from Castor and Arabella to try to quietly make their way against the back wall to the Gryffindor table, while Castor did the same carrying Ara to the end of the Slytherin table where Pollux and Septimus were fidgeting anxiously. Though they were trying to be discreet many students were pointing at them and whispering. Castor gently set Ara down on the bench next to Septimus before sitting on the other side with his twin. 

“We’ve got to take her to the hospital wing as soon as she’s had some food,'' he whispered to Pollux and Septimus, “And I warned Professor McGonagall that Uncle Louis would be sending a strongly worded owl as soon as he heard about the Dementors harassing students on the train.”

Septimus and Pollux nodded seriously, Ara already falling asleep again against Septimus’s side. She slept through Dumbledore’s welcome speech and woke up only when Septimus prodded her once the feast had begun. Ara’s boys came over one-by-one at the beginning of the feast to check on her and promised to get her from the hospital wing the next morning with enough time to change and eat before classes. And as soon as she finished eating she was swept up by Pollux and Septimus to be taken down the hospital wing while Castor sent an owl to their uncle. 


	21. Fathers and Uncles, part 1: September 1993

Ara woke the next morning feeling much better but was still forcefully given the largest and richest hot chocolate she had ever tasted by Madam Pomfrey, which she had to finish before she would be released. She had nearly finished it by the time Fen, Toby, Omar, and Grant wandered into the Hospital Wing and drank the rest in several large gulps so she could eat breakfast and still have plenty of time to shower, change her clothes, and grab her stuff for their morning classes. 

Ara had visited her brothers at the Slytherin table to reassure them that she was fine before joining her boys back at the Ravenclaw table. She was sitting happily at the Ravenclaw table chatting with Luna and the boys as Harry walked in and he waved at her as he headed towards the Gryffindor table. Her good mood was quickly spoiled though because as soon as Draco saw Harry he began loudly telling the story of how Harry had fainted and got several of the Slytherins in his year to pretend to faint as Harry passed. 

Arabella had been planning on thanking Draco for helping her when she fainted on the train but she couldn’t help but feel incredibly hurt as he made fun of Harry. Even though he hadn’t made fun of her when she had come into breakfast, he was making fun of Harry for doing the exact same thing she had done and she looked over at Draco at the Slytherin table eyes wide and hurt. She caught Draco’s eye as he laughed again at Harry and he abruptly stopped laughing when he saw her face and sorrowful eyes. He sat back down quickly never breaking eye contact with her and for a second he looked like he felt guilty before he looked away hastily and refused to meet her eye again. 

Ara sighed and turned back to her breakfast as Professor Flitwick delivered their schedules for the year. She and the boys were just looking it over when they heard raised voices coming from outside the Great Hall and growing steadily louder. 

“I don’t care if I’m not supposed to be here, Dumbledore!” the voice shouted, “This is unacceptable! Dementors attacked my niece! Having those vile creatures surrounding a school is quite possibly the worst idea the British Ministry of Magic has had this century!” The voice trailed off into nearly incoherent swearing, the incoherency owing mainly to the fact that they were yelled in French rather than English. 

“Oh no,” Ara whispered, turning frantically to look over at her brothers at the Slytherin table, their eyes as wide and shocked as hers. 

Her suspicions were confirmed when not one second later her uncle marched through the entrance to the Great Hall drawing every eye towards him as he radiated power and fury. 

The whole hall seemed to freeze as his furious glare swept the room and only Ara and her brothers moved, all jumping out of their seats and immediately drawing his focus. 

“Arabella!” her Uncle Louis called and began walking swiftly directly down the aisle towards her. 

“Uncle?” She called, still completely bewildered by his presence and slightly worried he was going to give away the Lestrange’s secret to the entire school at once.

Fortunately he remembered his surroundings enough that his next words came out in a stream of French that almost no one in the Great Hall was likely to understand. “Are you okay, my darling? I told Dumbledore that having the Dementors here was going to cause problems! I have a mind to pull you out of here right now and send you to Beauxbatons! The whole family has been worrying themselves sick ever since we got Castor’s letter early this morning! I Flooed here as soon as I could! Are you okay?” 

By the end of his tirade, he had Arabella face in his hands as he inspected her for damage and then engulfed her in a fierce hug. 

“Uncle,” Arabella said in French, “I’m fine but could we please talk in a more private place? Perhaps Professor Dumbledore’s office?”

Ara’s uncle took a deep breath, pressed a kiss to her forehead, and replied in French, “Yes, yes, of course, darling, we can talk privately.”

“You can use my office,” Dumbledore proposed speaking in French from behind him. 

King Louis nodded, taking Ara’s hand and heading back towards the entrance to the Great Hall where her brothers were standing. They all nodded respectfully at their uncle and fell in silently behind him as they exited the hall. The Great Hall was silent for all of two seconds before it erupted into chatter about what the hell had just happened. 

They were silent the whole way to Dumbledore’s office and only when the door had closed firmly behind Septimus did King Louis finally speak. 

“Arabella, you must understand, the dementors will be at Hogwarts all year. I just don’t feel comfortable with your safety if the castle is going to be surrounded by these creatures which cause you such harm!”

“But Uncle Louis, I’m inside most of the time and the times I am outside are for class, Quidditch games, or just hanging out in one of the castle courtyards! The dementors shouldn’t be near any of those things, right Professor Dumbledore?” Ara cried, turning to the Headmaster for help.

“She is correct, your majesty,” Dumbledore replied, using the correct form of address now that they were in private. “The dementors will remain at the edges of the grounds during the school year. I was not informed by the Minister that the dementors would be boarding the train before it arrived at Hogwarts last night and I have made it clear to him as well as the dementors that from now on I must be informed of any and all of the dementors activities.”

“Perhaps you should yell at Fudge, Uncle Louis,” Septimus said, “The dementors were his idea in the first place weren’t they?”

“Hmm — Well I suppose that’s true,” King Louis said, “I might as well make this a diplomatic mission since I’m already here. I am sorry to barge in so rudely, Albus. Arabella has had bad reactions to dementors in the past and when I heard there had been an incident on the train — Well I needed to make sure she was okay.”

“Completely understandable, your majesty,” Dumbledore said, “Although I do request in the future that if you must visit Hogwarts that you stay out of sight of the students and allow your niece and nephews to be brought to you. We have managed to keep your secret safe for twelve years and I would hate to for it to be revealed in such an abrupt manner.”

“I suppose I can agree to that,” King Louis said, then turned to Arabella saying in French, “Ara, mon belle, I’m sorry for barging into your school. I just want you to be safe.”

“I am, Uncle Louis,” Ara replied in French, wrapping her arms around her uncle, “And I guess we’re lucky that you weren’t wearing your formal attire or your crown when you barged in.”

“Yes, that may have given it totally away,” the king laughed.

“I am nervous about what I’m going to tell people if they ask how you got in —”

“I believe I have an idea on that matter, your majesty,” Dumbledore chimed in, “In the interest of making it easy to remember and also not untrue, we could say that your uncle is an influential man in France or that he holds a high position in the French government and that’s how he was able to get a meeting with me.”

The Valois-Lestrange family all nodded and their uncle finally released Ara and briefly embraced Castor, Pollux, and Septimus before turning towards the fire.

“Well, I should be off, I’m sure my bodyguards are furious at me for only getting one Floo invitation for this office,” King Louis said and smiled at his family, “I will see you four at Christmas and do try to stay out of trouble until then, would you?”

“No promises,” Castor and Pollux said. 

Their uncle chuckled, grabbed a handful of Floo powder, stepped into the fireplace, said “Château de Chaumont, King’s Study”, and disappeared in a burst of green flame. 

“Well, with that concluded I recommend you all hurry back to the Great Hall before breakfast ends,” said Professor Dumbledore.

They nodded silently and filed out the door and down the stairs. 

Once they were in the hallway below Dumbledore’s office Pollux said, “Now, how are we going to make sure that we don’t get too many questions about what happened?”

“Leave that to me,” Ara said, smirking at her brothers, “I guarantee that the whole school will have an answer to that before dinner, maybe even lunch.”

“If you say so, mon petit fleur,” Pollux said sceptically.

At that, Septimus shot a look at Ara, eyebrow raised, and she smothered a laugh and sent him a wink.

Ara wasn’t wrong about the ability to make the rumour spread. All she had to do was make sure the other girls in her dorm were nearby when she pretended to explain what had happened at breakfast to her boys, as well as get Hermione to casually mention it to Lavender and Pavarti in Gryffindor and the gossip spread from there. Ara could almost watch it bounce around the Great Hall and trickle down the corridors during the breaks between the morning classes. 

She was helped by the dramatic scene that had happened during the third-year’s first Care of Magical Creatures class right after lunch. Hagrid had been seen carrying a student to the hospital wing and it turned out one of the creatures had slashed Draco Malfoy on the arm. With Draco’s dramatics and the Slytherins out for blood breakfast faded to a distant memory. 

When she asked Harry, Hermione, and Ron about the incident at dinner though, they were all fuming about it rather than sighing in relief like Ara. They were terribly anxious that Hagrid would be blamed for what had happened. When really Draco had just disregarded all the instructions of how to treat the animal and gotten himself slashed for it.

“It’s not Hagrid’s fault Malfoy’s an idiot,” Ron said.

“Dumbledore will believe Hagrid though, won’t he,” Hermione asked, biting her lip raw.

“I hope so,” Ara said, “But no matter how much Dumbledore likes Hagrid it’s not a good start to have a student injured in his first-ever class.”

“If that prat had just bothered to listen to what Hagrid had said, he would have known not to provoke the Hippogriff like that,” Harry fumed, “And you know his father will be furious. It’s just lucky he’s not a school governor anymore after his stunt with the diary last year.”

“Maybe I can convince him not to tell his father about it or at least not place all the blame on Hagrid and the hippogriff,” Ara said.

“Fat chance,” said Ron, “Malfoy loves the attention and won’t miss the opportunity to prove just how _special_ his family is.”

“Do you think he would listen to you?” Hermione asked hopefully.

“It’s possible,” Ara shrugged, “He respects my brothers and he went out of his way to talk to me on the train, oh, and he was also really nice when I fainted in his carriage. I think he caught me so I wouldn’t hit my head on anything.”

Harry, Ron, and Hermione shared a brief look that Ara didn’t understand and before she could ask Harry said, “It can’t hurt to try.”

Ara nodded, having one last bite of pudding before she rose and said, “Well, I’m off to the hospital wing then, this is the second time in two days, not a great start to the year for me.”

Ara waved, slung her bag over her shoulder, and headed out of the hall, long black hair bouncing with her steps. 

“So, as you can see, Draco, it’s really in your best interest to just let the incident with the hippogriff go! Your arm will be healed soon enough and it wouldn’t be fair for Hagrid or the hippogriff to get in trouble for a little — miscommunication — between you and Hagrid,” Ara finished.

Draco had been sitting silently for her whole speech patiently waiting for her to finish ranting and laughing internally at how well-formatted her arguments had been. “Did you write that out before you came here?” he asked.

“No,” Ara said, head tilted slightly, “I just thought about it a little on the way here from dinner.”

“It sounded like you were reading directly from an essay you had written,” Draco said, smirking at her.

“So, does that mean you agree with me?” Ara said hopefully, “And you won’t have your father try to have Hagrid sacked?”

He was silent, examining the bedsheets with sudden interest. Ara fidgeted on the edge of the bed. Draco sighed, looked up, and met her eyes.

“I already sent him a letter,” he said, “And even if I hadn’t I’m sure Madam Pomfrey would have sent a letter that I was injured and he would have demanded I tell him what had happened.”

“You could have told him what happened without making it seem like it was Hagrid’s fault!” 

“So, you’re saying this is all my fault?” 

“Obviously! Draco, if you had followed Hagrid’s directions on how to approach the hippogriffs then you wouldn’t have been hurt!”

“Well, he shouldn’t be a teacher in the first place! He never graduated! He was expelled!”

“Oh please, you know the real reason he was expelled, and just like now, that was not his fault.”

“I don’t know what you’re talking about!”

“Did your dad not tell you? Voldemort opened the Chamber of Secrets both times it happened! The first time he pinned it on Hagrid and his acromantula, Aragog, and last year he acted through his old diary that your dad unleashed on the school!”

“What? That can’t be true! He didn’t tell me anything.”

“Yeah,” Ara scoffed, “And I’m sure he tells you everything.”

“Well, whatever!” Draco sputtered, “Even if that’s true, why would I want to help Hagrid! I don’t care about him at all and maybe he should have been paying better attention to the rest of the class rather than fawning over Saint Potter, like always, and this wouldn’t have happened!”

“Saint Potter? Really, Draco? Do you think his life is a walk in the park? His parents were murdered trying to protect him when he was a year old and then he was kept away from everything magical for nearly ten years with his horrible aunt and uncle! And he is still kind and brave! Maybe if you were nicer to people they would be nicer to you too.”

“All that’s not important! He just constantly needs attention! Getting to be on the Gryffindor Quidditch team as a first-year, all the extra points Dumbledore gives to him and his stupid friends, getting his picture in the paper with Lockhart, handing out pictures last year —”

“Harry couldn’t help any of those things! It’s not like he asked to be famous for something he doesn’t even remember! Is that why you were mocking him about fainting on the train last night? Because you thought he was doing it for attention?”

“Well, yes — but, I mean —”

“And what about me, Draco? I fainted too. Was I just doing it for attention?” Ara was glaring fiercely at him now.

“Well — no —”

“And neither was he!” Ara exclaimed before taking a deep breath and reaching for Draco’s uninjured hand, gripping it lightly, “You were so sweet and concerned after I fainted on the train. I was going to thank you this morning but then I heard you making fun of Harry —”

“But I wasn’t trying to make fun of you!”

“Well, you should have been!”

“What?” 

“I just mean that if you are making fun of someone for something you’re also making fun of everyone else who did the same thing. So if you were going to make fun of him for that then you should have been making fun of me too. Because you were already making fun of me indirectly by making fun of him and I’d rather be judged the same as him for fainting instead of differently just because we’re friends — or whatever. I don’t even know.”

“We are friends!” Draco insisted.

“Well, you’re not being a very good one right now.”

Ara stood up from the bed. 

“I need to go.”

“Ara, wait —”

“No, I have things to do and I don’t want to be here with you anymore. I just thought you could be better than this. I’m disappointed is all.”

“Ara, I’m sorry —”

“Just don’t.” 

The door to the hospital wing shut loudly behind her and he was left sitting alone in the fading light. 


	22. Fathers and Uncles, part 2: September 1993

Malfoy didn’t reappear until lunch on Thursday although Harry and Ron told her that he had waltzed in halfway through their Potions class and made it a nightmare as always. Ara was heading up to their first Defence Against the Dark Arts class of the year with the Gryffindor third-years minus Hermione. 

“Where’s Hermione?” Ara asked Harry and Ron, “I thought she was with us when we left the Great Hall?”

Just then Hermione rushed around the corner behind them nearly running into Ara, Harry, and Ron as they stopped to look over their shoulders.

“What are you doing?” Hermione asked irritatedly, trying not to displace the books in her arms as her bag slammed into Ara’s side.

“Just looking for you,” Ara said, “Why are you carrying half the library in your bag?”

“Oh you know,” Hermione said, already speed-walking toward the Defence Against the Dark Arts classroom as the others struggled to keep up with her. “Lots of classes, lots of homework. I just don’t want to leave anything I might need.”

Ara looked over at her friend who was marching forward with single-minded determination. There was something she wasn’t telling them but she’d have to figure it out another time or they were going to be late for class so she just nodded and hurried to follow Hermione down the corridor. 

They wandered into the Defence Against the Dark Arts classroom wondering what their new Professor would be like. He wasn’t in the classroom so Ara and Hermione sat next to each other with Ron and Harry directly behind them. Ara turned, trying to ignore the feeling she was being watched coming from where the Slytherins were clustered and started chatting with Harry and Ron while Hermione pulled out parchment and ink, cracked open a textbook, and began writing furiously. 

They fell silent when Professor Lupin entered the room and Ara smiled at him trying to convey some of her gratitude for his help on the train. He smiled back wearily and said, “Good afternoon. Would you all please put your books back in your bags. Today’s will be a practical lesson. You will need only your wands.” 

Hermione swept all her books into her a bag with a thunk and shared a concerned look with Ara both of them thinking of the practical lesson from the first class of Defence Against the Dark Arts the year before, when Lockhart had unleashed a cage of pixies on them and then left Harry, Ron, Hermione, and Ara to deal with the chaos. 

“Right then, if you’d follow me,” and Lupin headed out the door of the classroom.

The class hurried to follow him out into the corridor already intrigued by their new teacher. The corridors were deserted as most other students were in class but Peeves was pulling his usual pranks, currently stuffing a keyhole with gum while floating upside down. He only acknowledged them when they were almost upon him when he sang a little song.

“Loony, loopy Lupin. Loony, loopy Lupin. Loony, loopy —”

Professor Lupin seemed unfazed by Peeves still smiling up at him much to the class’s surprise. “I’d take that gum out of the keyhole if I were you, Peeves,” he said calmly, “Mr Filch won’t be able to get in to his brooms.”

Peeves blew a raspberry at them before going back to ignoring Lupin. Lupin gave an exasperated but sort of fond sigh and pulled out his wand. “This is a useful little spell, please watch closely,” he said to the class before pointing his wand at Peeves and giving it a switch, “Waddiwasi!”

The gum suddenly shot out of the keyhole and whizzed straight up Peeve’s left nostril causing the poltergeist to spiral away from them grabbing at his nose and cursing. The class broke into shocked and amazed laughter.

“Cool, sir!” Dean Thomas said, looking at Professor Lupin with new respect. 

“Thank you, Dean,” Professor Lupin said, “Now, shall we proceed?”

They scampered behind Professor Lupin down the hall excitedly until they arrived at the door to the staffroom. Ara glanced at Harry and Ron who were no doubt also remembering how the last time they had been in the staffroom they had ended up eavesdropping on a meeting from the closet where it was revealed that Ginny had been taken into the Chamber of Secrets. They filed inside the staffroom and Ara immediately noted the wardrobe they had hidden in still in the same place. The only other occupant of the staffroom was Professor Snape who was sitting in a low armchair giving the class a chilling glare. 

“Leave it open, Lupin,” Professor Snape said as Lupin went to close the door, “I’d rather not witness this.”

He rose from his seat and stalked past the class, robes billowing dramatically as usual. Ara had to wonder if he had charmed them to do so because they had an uncanny ability to give his entrances and exits a dramatic and often intimidating flair. 

Professor Snape only turned right as he was about to step across the threshold, saying “Possibly no one’s warned you, Lupin, but this class contains Neville Longbottom. I would advise you not to entrust him with anything difficult. Not unless Miss Granger is hissing instructions in his ear.” 

Ara’s brow wrinkled but with the death glares Snape was getting from the Gryffindors and they muffled snickers from the Slytherins she guessed that something had happened in Potions that morning. She hated the way he chose students to bully though having witnessed it plenty of times herself and she joined the Gryffindor’s glaring at him. Neville didn’t deserve that. 

Professor Lupin just raised an eyebrow meeting Snape’s challenging stare with an equally strong gaze and said, “I was actually hoping that Neville would assist me with the first stage of the operation today and I’m sure he will perform it admirably.”

Snape sneered at Lupin looking practically murderous before slamming the door shut behind him. Neville had gone the colour, of a tomato at the peak of ripeness and Ara tried to smile reassuringly at him but that only seemed to make him shrink further in on himself so she quickly looked away. 

Lupin had taken up a spot next to the wardrobe just as it gave a sudden lurch banging against the wall. Half the class had jumped at this but Lupin just smiled calmly and said, “Nothing to worry about, there’s a boggart in there.”

That didn’t ease the class’s nerves though and most were watching the wardrobe suspiciously while Neville had gone from right to white as a sheet of paper, expression nothing short of terror. 

But Professor Lupin continued, “Boggarts like dark, enclosed spaces: wardrobes, the gap beneath beds, the cupboards under sinks — I once met one that had lodged itself in a grandfather clock. This one however moved in just yesterday, and I asked Professor Dumbledore if the staff would leave it to give my third years some practice. So, the first question we must ask ourselves is, what is a boggart?”

Hermione’s hand shot into the air, Ara’s only a second behind her but Hermione had already started talking, “It’s a shape-shifter. It takes the shape of whatever it thinks will frighten us the most.”

“Perfect!” said Professor Lupin and Hermione beamed, “Couldn’t have put it better myself. So the boggart sitting in the darkness within has not yet assumed a form. He does not yet know what will frighten the person on the other side of the door. Nobody knows what a boggart looks like when he is alone, but when I let him out, he will immediately become whatever each of us most fears.”

Neville looked like he might start crying but Lupin continued, “This means that we have a huge advantage over the boggart before we begin. Have you spotted it, Harry?”

Harry looked briefly startled at being called on and tried to ignore Hermione bouncing on her toes, hand in the air, and said, “Er — because there are so many of us, it won’t know what shape it should be?”

“Precisely,” said Professor Lupin, “It’s always best to have company when you’re dealing with a boggart. He becomes confused. Which should he become, a headless corpse or a flesh-eating slug? In fact, I saw a boggart try that exact thing and it made the mistake of turning into just half a slug. Not remotely frightening.”

Ara tried to think of what the boggart might turn into for her, briefly imagining herself lying in a hospital bed or freezing to death alone in a snowstorm, but neither seemed enough to be the thing she feared the most. 

“The charm that repels a boggart is simple, yet it requires a force of mind,” Professor Lupin said, “You see, the thing that really finishes a boggart is laughter. What you need to do is force it to assume a shape that you find amusing. We will practice the charm without wands first. After me, if you please, — Riddikulus!”

“Riddikulus!” The class repeated.

“Good,” said Professor Lupin, “Very good. But that was the easy part, I’m afraid. You see, the word alone is not enough. And this is where you come in, Neville.”

Neville took a shaky step forward as the wardrobe rattled again. 

“Right, Neville,” said Professor Lupin, “First things first: What would you say is the thing that frightens you most in the world?” 

Neville’s mouth moved, but there was no sound, but Professor Lupin just smiled cheerfully, “I’m afraid I didn’t quite catch that, Neville, sorry!”

Neville looked around frantically for an escape route, then whispered, barely audibly, “Professor Snape.”

The class laughed and even Neville smiled sheepishly at Professor Lupin, who seemed to be deep in thought.

“Professor Snape — hmm — right, I believe you live with your grandmother, right, Neville?”

“Er — yes,” said Neville, “But I don’t want the boggart to turn into her either!” 

“No, no, you misunderstand me,” Professor Lupin said, a mischievous sort of grin now on his face, “I wonder, could you tell us what sort of clothes your grandmother usually wears?”

Neville looked bewildered but said, “Er — always the same hat. Tall with a stuffed vulture on top — and a long dress, green usually — and sometimes a fur scarf.”

“And a handbag?” asked Professor Lupin, looking eerily similar to Fred and George.

“A big red one.”

“Good, good,” said Professor Lupin, “Can you picture those clothes very clearly, Neville? Can you see them in your head?”

“Yes,” said Neville, still as confused but curious as the rest of the class.

“When the boggart bursts out of the wardrobe, Neville, and sees you, it will assume the form of Professor Snape, and you will raise your wand, and cry ‘Riddikulus’ and concentrate hard on your grandmother’s clothes,” Professor Lupin said, “If all goes well, Professor Boggart Snape will be forced into that green dress, vulture-topped hat, and big red handbag.”

The class burst out laughing, even some of the Slytherins couldn’t help giggling as they imagined the ridiculous image.

“And if Neville is successful, the boggart is likely to shift his attention to each of us in turn,” Professor Lupin said, “So, I would like all of you to take a moment now to think of the thing that scares you most and imagine how you might force it to look comical —”

Ara frowned as she searched her mind for what she was most scared of, maybe it would be a werewolf, Ajax had told her stories of Fenrir Greyback, a werewolf who was a Death Eater like their father, and how he had had nightmares for a week after meeting him. Ajax had later shown her a picture he found in their father’s old office and Ara personally agreed that the man was terrifying. The way he had leered in the picture, his canines on full display and the deranged look in his eye made her grateful that she had never known their father and hadn’t been subjected to his radical supremacist beliefs like her siblings had been forced to endure. 

She still hadn’t determined what her greatest fear was, let alone how she would turn it into something funny when Professor Lupin said, “Everyone ready?” But the rest of the class was already nodding and she didn’t want to be the one person who couldn’t handle it. She always felt like she had something to prove in this class since she had been moved up a year even though there was no reason to since she had received the highest marks the year before, even ahead of Hermione. 

“Neville,” Professor Lupin called, “We’re going to back away and let you have a clear field, all right? Everyone move back now so Neville has a clear shot and I’ll call the next person forward —”

The class was thrumming with eager and nervous energy as they all moved quickly against the walls leaving Neville alone in the centre of the room, facing the wardrobe.

“On the count of three, Neville,” said Professor Lupin, wand pointed at the handle of the wardrobe, “One — two — three, now!”

A jet of light shot from Professor Lupin’s wand and the wardrobe burst open. Even though she knew it was going to happen Ara was still unnerved by the perfect replica of Professor Snape that stepped menacingly out of the wardrobe, stare fixated on Neville. 

His wand hand was shaking as he cried, “R-R-Riddikulus!”

With a crack Boggart, Snape was wearing one of the silliest dresses Ara had ever seen. It was old lacey and looked like it had just been pulled out of an untouched wardrobe from the 1800s and put immediately on without bothering to clean it or attempt to get rid of the scent of mothballs. The class was laughing hysterically at the boggart in the form of their Potions teacher. 

“Parvati!” Professor Lupin shouted and Ara could swear she saw him wipe a tear out of the corner of his eyes as he laughed with the class

Parvati stepped into the centre as Neville backed up looking at the boggart determinedly. The boggart turned to her and midway through the turn it transformed from Professor Snape into a mummy complete with bloodstains and bandages peeling away from rotting flesh. 

“Riddikulus!” she shouted.

The bandages around its feet started to unravel and suddenly the mummy was flailing all over fighting to maintain its balance before it finally crashed to the ground entangled in its bandages and its head rolled away from the body. 

“Seamus!” Professor Lupin called.

Seamus darted forward as Parvarti took a few steps backwards smiling proudly. The boggart reformed into a monster with green skin stretched taut over its bones and dark black hair that swept the floor. It let out a piercing wail, the class desperately trying to cover their ears from the banshee’s cry.

“Riddikulus!” cried Seamus.

The banshee’s voice disappeared into a gasp as she grabbed at her throat desperately, voice gone. Then it became a large rat that stumbled around in a circle vaguely chasing its tail. With another loud crack, it became a rattlesnake squirming on the ground before another crack sounded and it became a large bloody eyeball. 

“It’s confused!” Professor Lupin called, “We’re getting there, Dean!”

Dean jumped forward, wand ready. A loud crack and the boggart became a severed hand crawling across the floor towards him. 

“Riddikulus!” 

A bang and the hand had been caught in a mousetrap.

“Excellent! Ron, you next!” 

The next loud snap as the boggart changed was accompanied by several screams as it transformed into a massive spider, taller than even Professor Lupin, advanced on Ron pincers clacking. Ara jumped nearly running into Harry on her right as she and Lavender started at Ron’s boggart on the other side. 

There was a long pause during which Ron froze before he stood his ground bellowing, “Riddikulus!” And the spider’s legs disappeared and its large body rolled across the floor causing Lavender Brown to squeal and move with astonishing speed away leaving Ara to step forward, wand raised to deal with her boggart. 

The boggart paused slightly before with a crack the spider vanished and there was a black stone wall with bars across the only opening. Another bang sounded as the wall exploded and a man stepped out of the wreckage. His black hair was stuck to his neck in some places with sweat and his dark eyes scanned the room briefly before settling firmly on Ara, his piercing blue eyes horribly familiar. 

She had known immediately who it was when he stepped out after the explosion but it was horrifying to see her own eyes staring back at her from the face she only knew from photographs. Her father looked exactly how he looked in his mugshot taken after his trial twelve years ago. He had only been in Azkaban for a few weeks before his trial but his eyes already showed signs of madness in their gleam and had large dark circles under his eyes. He still looked fit though as he towered over Ara in height and bulk in his prisoner’s uniform. The chains around his wrists clinked as he walked towards her and broke off, falling to the ground. 

Ara could feel her heart racing in her chest and it’s pounding was the only thing she could hear, the sound drowning out any noise from the room around her. She was frozen under her father’s stare as he never broke eye contact and started grinning maniacally at her. It felt like the oxygen had been sucked from the room and her chest tightened, fingers tingling with numbness as she was hazily aware that she had dropped her wand. Time ceased to exist in front of him, the moment stretching endlessly for Ara as tears rolled silently down her cheeks.

The world suddenly came back in hyperfocus as Harry jumped in front of her blocking her view of the boggart. The boggart began to spin and change, Harry standing ready but before it could finish morphing into Harry’s worst fear Professor Lupin had reached them from the other side of the classroom throwing himself between Harry and Ara and Boggart Rabastan Lestrange. 

There was a crack and a silvery-white orb hung in the air in front of Professor Lupin. He stared at it calmly but quickly yelled, “Riddikulus!” turning it into a cockroach scuttling across the floor. 

“Neville, finish him off!” Professor Lupin called, already turning to Ara who was still standing frozen behind Harry. 

Neville charged forward, looking fierce and determined. “Riddikulus!” He shouted and once again Snape was standing in front of them in Neville’s grandmother's dress, although the laughter was more scattered this time as no one quite understood what had happened with Arabella and the man who was her boggart. But Boggart Snape was only there for a second as Neville let out a booming, “Ha!” and the boggart exploded in a burst of mist before vanishing completely. 

“Very good,” Professor Lupin called over his shoulder, still trying to get Ara’s breathing back under control. 

Her panic eased slightly and she was suddenly way too aware of Lupin’s hands on her shoulders and his eyes looking worriedly down at her for the second time that week. The panic returned in a different way as her cheeks flushed as the whole class stared at her and tears continued to roll down her cheeks. She ripped herself abruptly away from Professor Lupin, stumbling back a few steps and looking around hysterically before she bolted across the room, throwing open the door and disappearing into the hallway leaving her wand, professor, and stunned class behind. 

Professor Lupin stared sadly at the door still hanging open for a few moments before clearing his throat and turning back to the class. “Excellent, Neville. Well done, everyone, let me see — five points to Gryffindor for every person to tackle the boggart, ten for Neville because he did it twice — and five each to Hermione and Harry.”

“But I didn’t do anything,” said Harry.

“You and Hermoine answered my questions correctly at the start of the class, Harry,” said Professor Lupin, he bent down and scooped Arabella’s wand off the ground, “Very well, everyone, an excellent lesson. For homework, kindly read the chapter on boggarts and summarize it for me to be handed in on Monday. That will be all.” 

The class left the staffroom no sign of Ara in the hallways. There were some curious murmurs about the events of the end of class but they were soon silenced by excited talk about the lesson.

“I hope Arabella’s okay,” Hermione said softly to Harry and Ron.

“Was that her father do you think?” Harry muttered.

Neville tried to glance over at them surreptitiously, slowing his pace as they talked about Ara and her father but Harry could tell that he was eavesdropping. 

“I reckon so,” Ron said, not noticing Neville, hovering nearby, “The clothes he was wearing looked the same as the one’s Sirius Black is wearing in his mugshot in the papers.” 

“That’s so sad,” Hermione said.

“What?” Ron said, “That her dad’s in Azkaban?”

“No,” Hermione replied, “That her greatest fear is her father.”

Neville sped up again, catching up with Seamus and Dean, and Harry had to agree with Hermione. The Dursleys were horrible but they hadn’t even crossed his mind when he had thought about what the boggart might turn into.


	23. Remus Lupin: September 1993

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> To whom it may interest: I'm back at college now and quite busy with my schoolwork, my sports practices, and my job so I'm going to be switching from posting every week to every other week which I think is a posting schedule I’ll actually be able to keep up with throughout the semester. I don’t want to overcommit myself and then fall behind, get discouraged, and not write at all so hopefully this helps me consistent about writing over a longer period of time which is what’s most important to me. I'll keep you updated on how the new posting schedule is working out. Thank you for understanding!

Arabella’s bag was still in the Defence Against the Dark Arts classroom when the third-years gathered their things after the boggart lesson but Professor Lupin said he would hold onto her bag and her wand until she came to retrieve them. No one saw Arabella, nor any of her brothers for that matter, for the rest of the day, skipping the rest of her classes and not even reappearing for dinner that evening. 

After dinner, Remus Lupin was slouched in his desk chair, in a lumpy well-worn sweater rather than his robes, flicking through his well-worn copy of  _ Fantastic Beast and Where to Find Them _ when there was a timid knock on the door. He uncrossed his legs, shook his left leg which had started to go numb slightly, crossed over to the door, and pulled it open, to find exactly who he expected behind it. 

Arabella Lestrange was a tiny thing, Remus thought, huddled in a Slytherin sweater so large it was hanging off one of her shoulders and fussing with the bottom of it in front of her, avoiding making eye contact with him. 

“Hello, Arabella, would you like to come in?” he asked, trying to smile kindly at her when she finally looked up from the sweater. 

“Yes, please,” she mumbled, letting herself be ushered over to a chair next to the fire he had going before her teacher disappeared into the next room and returned shortly with two mugs of tea. 

She took the tea as well as some milk and sugar. Lupin settled in the armchair across from her. There were a few more moments of silence while Ara refused to meet his eyes, gaze fixated on the steam rising from her mug before she met his kind stare, “You have my wand and bag, yes?”

“I do,” Lupin said, “But I was hoping we could talk about what happened with the boggart first.”

Ara sighed, “Yeah, sure.”

“I gathered by your reaction that you were surprised that the boggart turned into your father?”

“I’ve never even met him! He left us in France when I was like three months old and he’s been locked up in Azkaban ever since! He can’t hurt me, right?” said Ara, now curled into a ball on the armchair.

“That’s right, he can’t hurt you,” Lupin said. 

“Then why is he my greatest fear?” 

“I don’t know, Arabella, what did you think would be your greatest fear when I asked you all to think about it before facing the boggart?”

“Oh,” Ara said, “Well, I actually couldn’t come up with anything for sure. I thought about freezing to death or being stuck in a hospital or maybe werewolves but I really wasn’t sure —”

Ara had been looking into the fire as she spoke and Remus was grateful that she seemed to have missed the way he flinched and tried to recompose himself before she could look at him again. 

Ara continued, “But I’ve never been in any real danger of freezing, I’ve spent time in the hospital before, and I’ve never even met a werewolf, not like my brother, so I hadn’t actually figured it out before we started.” 

She looked up at him somewhat sheepishly as if he would be upset for not knowing her worst fear off the top of her head. He cleared his throat, “Your brother has met a werewolf and survived?” 

He watched Ara seem to search for her words before she finally looked at him anxiously and said, “You promise you won’t tell?” 

Remus couldn’t help but think that in that moment she looked much younger than her twelve years. “Of course,” he said.

“My oldest brother, Ajax, had just turned twelve and started Hogwarts when our father was arrested. Just after I was born, my father took Ajax to a meeting with some of Voldemort’s followers and while he was there he met a werewolf named Fenrir Greyback and he described meeting Fenrir Greyback to me once as the most terrifying moment of his life until that point,” she looked straight into his eyes now looking anxious, “But he didn’t want to go and meet with the Death Eaters! And he didn’t know anything about what they were planning on doing to Harry’s parents or what my dad was planning on doing to Neville’s parents!”

“I believe you, Ara,” Remus said, soothing her with the warm hum of his voice, “And if he had known anything, no one would have expected him to do anything about it. He was eleven and a child, that’s not his responsibility to worry about.”

“I guess,” Ara said, taking a sip of her tea, “He just took responsibility for everything after our dad left and we were essentially orphans, I don’t really remember him ever being a kid although I don’t remember the first few years after he left since I was a baby.” 

“I definitely understand feeling responsible for a large burden from a young age,” Remus said, at her cocked head and furrowed brow he elaborated, “There was a — uh — dramatic change in my family when I was very young and I felt a lot of responsibility for all the problems it caused for years after.”

Ara nodded gazing into the fire, suddenly homesick for France and the rest of her family. They sat in comfortable silence for a few minutes both just sipping their tea before Ara said, “Professor Lupin, how do you think Sirius Black escaped Azkaban?”

Remus froze, grip tightening on his teacup and heartbeat speeding up, “Well — I really don’t know — Do you think that could be the reason your father is your greatest fear right now? You think he might be able to escape from Azkaban?”

“Maybe — I guess,” Ara sighed, “I mean — no one had ever escaped before but they still can’t find Sirius Black! What if Voldemort’s other supporters including my family figure out how to break out too?”

“That is a reasonable concern, however, I know that since the breakout, the security at Azkaban has been on high alert to prevent another escape. Also, I think that if the other Death Eaters knew how to escape as well they would have already attempted it.”

“I guess that makes sense — I’m sorry for causing a scene in class today —”

“Hey, now! None of that,” Lupin said firmly, frowning at Arabella, “You were having an anxiety attack while facing your greatest fear. There’s nothing to be ashamed of.”

“But no one else freaked out —”

“Your fear was incredibly personal, unlike your classmates. I would only expect a similar reaction from a similarly personal fear.”

“Thank you, Professor Lupin,” Ara said, “I just want to prove that moving me up a year in Defence Against the Dark Arts wasn’t a bad idea.”

Remus chuckled at her determined expression, “Arabella, you don’t need to prove yourself to anyone. I saw your marks from last year and yours were the highest in the class, but regardless of your marks I don’t think there is anyone in that class who thinks you don’t belong in it, not your classmates, not me, and certainly not Professor Dumbledore.”

“Thank you for the tea and the talk, Professor,” Ara said standing up, “I feel better now and I should probably get back to my dorm before it gets too late to do some work before bed.”

“Of course,” Remus said, also rising and moving to grab her bag and wand from where he had tucked them behind his desk before dinner. “That also reminds me, your only homework is to read the chapter on boggarts in your textbook and write a summary for next week. Now, please don’t forget if you ever need to talk about this again or you have questions from class, I’m happy to talk with you again sometime.”

“Thank you, Professor Lupin,” Ara smiled, shouldering her bag, “I’ll keep that in mind.” 

There were a few more pleasantries exchanged and he was closing the door behind Arabella. He strode back across the room to collect their abandoned teacups before sitting back down in front of the fire. If there was anything that came from that conversation it was a reinforcement of the knowledge that he needed to keep his condition a secret. Not that he blamed her for fearing werewolves. Hell! He was scared of werewolves, including himself. He had also continued to sink himself deeper into the lie of omission by not telling her or Dumbledore or the Ministry of Magic that Sirius was Animagus and that was likely how he had escaped and managed to stay hidden for so long. He had thought about going to Dumbledore many times since he had returned to Hogwarts but two things stopped him. One, he couldn’t bear the thought of Dumbledore’s disappointment in him when he learned what he had dragged his friends into during their years at Hogwarts. And two, no matter that Sirius had betrayed him and was responsible for the deaths of Lily, James, and Peter, there was still a part of him that loved Sirius beyond reason. So his lips remained sealed. 


	24. Apologies and Arguments: September/October 1993

After that day with the boggart, Arabella’s luck improved significantly. She didn’t have any more encounters with the dementors or rogue family members and she spent significantly more time with her brothers and all her friends. 

She had Potions class the morning after the boggart lesson and Professor Snape held her back after class to interrogate her on exactly what had happened with Neville and the boggart the day before. She had tried to stress to Snape that it had been Professor Lupin’s idea to dress him in Neville’s grandmother’s dress and while she felt bad for throwing Lupin under the bus, especially since he had been so nice the night before, Neville was a lot more vulnerable to Snape’s wrath than Lupin was. 

Unfortunately, it didn’t work though because Harry, Ron, and Hermione told her that when the third-years had Potions later that afternoon Snape was even worse of a bully than usual to Neville and had told Neville that Ara had been the one to tell him what happened. Ara grimaced and looked over at Neville, who was sitting at a nearby table in the library, she caught his eye for a moment before he frantically looked back at his parchment, almost cowering away from her. 

“I didn’t want to!” Ara said, “But Snape held me back after class and demanded I tell him what happened. I even told him that the dress was all Professor Lupin’s idea because Professor Snape can’t really do anything to Professor Lupin! I hoped it would make him not bully Neville as much about it!”

“I believe you, Arabella,” said Hermione, “But the way Professor Snape told it, it sounded like you stayed back after class specifically to tell Snape about it.” 

“Great,” Ara groaned, “As if Neville didn’t already have enough reasons not to like me.”

“Why wouldn’t Neville like you?” Harry asked, but Ara just waved her hand dismissively.

“I’ll have to apologize to him and explain that Snape made me stay back and tell him about the boggart.” She glanced back over to the other table only to find it empty and Seamus, Dean, and Neville heading to the door. “Oh shoot! I’m gonna go catch him now!”

Ara jumped up from the table and hurried towards the door to the library through which Neville was disappearing. She was nearly at a jog when she heard a pointed cough and found Madam Pince giving her a disapproving glare. She averted eye contact guiltily but only slowed to a speedy walk until she had exited the library where she started to run again. She caught up to Seamus, Dean, and Neville halfway down the corner, calling out breathily for them to stop.

“Hey, guys, sorry to chase you down but I was wondering if I could have a quick word with Neville?” Ara said, Neville shrank away from her but Seamus and Dean headed down the corridor slightly to give them some space. “I’d like to apologize for all the trouble Professor Snape has been giving you about this whole boggart thing.”

“Oh no, it’s fine,” Neville squeaked, already trying to edge away from her, “No worries!”

“No, it’s not okay,” Ara said frowning, “I didn’t want to tell him about what had happened but he had heard the whispers and laughs at dinner the night before and I had Potions first thing Friday morning and he had me stay back after class so he could question me about what had happened in the Defence Against the Dark Arts class the day before.” 

“I mean he was always going to find out what happened eventually, I suppose,” Neville shrugged, relaxing slightly but still rocking between his feet ready to bolt. 

“I tried to tell him that the dress hadn’t been your idea but Professor Lupin’s but I guess since he couldn’t take his anger out on Professor Lupin he took it out on you.”

“That’s true but even if he could I’d — I’d rather him take it out on me. Professor Lupin is wonderful —” Neville trailed off reverently.

“That’s really brave of you, Neville, especially because he’s your greatest fear,” She chuckled awkwardly, “I definitely couldn’t stand up to my greatest fear like that.”

There was a pause where Neville very plainly wanted to ask her a question and she was just waiting for it, even though its asking was unlikely to make either of them happy. 

“Your greatest fear —” he started, “That was your dad wasn’t it?”

“Yes,” Ara said, “That mad was my father, although I’m sure he doesn’t look how he appeared as the boggart on Thursday anymore. I only know what he looks like from his Azkaban mugshot.” 

Tension and silence hung between them like that frantic moment of teetering on the edge before you fall off the cliff.

“I hope you know that my remaining family and I want nothing to do with him,” Ara said very quietly, “And we’re very sorry for what he and my aunt and uncle did to your parents.” Neville nodded slowly, his mouth drawn tight and eyes slightly misty. Ara finally broke the silence, “Anyway, I’ll let you catch up with Seamus and Dean. I should get back to the others.”

She pointed over her shoulder with her thumb and awkwardly turned away from him, her eyes lingering on him over her shoulder as slowly padded away leaving Neville frozen and scattered in the corridor. 

Her brothers’ birthdays had come and gone, the twins in September and Septimus’s a few days before Halloween. There had been a minor uproar when the post arrived on the twins birthday and a small fleet of owls delivered their new Firebolts. Marcus Flint had become nearly unbearable in the weeks following bragging how the Slytherin Quidditch team was going to dominate the field that year. Arabella almost regretted buying them just because of Flint’s big mouth and she made her brothers swear they wouldn’t let him ride their new brooms.

“It’s just unbelievable!” Oliver Wood said to the Gryffindor Quidditch at lunch that day, “How could they get  _ two _ Firebolts —”

“Well —” Fred started.

“I mean obviously I know  _ how, _ I just think it’s unbelievable that two students at Hogwarts have Firebolts now! All of the professional and national teams are buying them. Oh, why did it have to be two Slytherins? They’re damn good fliers too —”

“You should have seen the cashier at the store in Diagon Alley,” Harry said, spreading some blackberry jam onto a piece of toast, “He couldn’t believe it when Ara walked in and said she wanted two. He actually was kind of rude at first but then Ara started dumping Galleons onto the counter and the whole store was watching in awe as he suddenly treated her like royalty!”

Harry chuckled to himself slightly and took a bite of his toast. He looked up to find that no one else on the team was laughing except Hermione who wasn’t laughing out loud but was clearly trying to hold it in only letting slip a few strange squeaks. 

“What?” Harry asked.

“You  _ knew _ that the Lestranges were getting two Firebolts and you didn’t tell me?” Wood exploded. 

“Well I just didn’t think it was really our business,” Harry said, “It’s their birthday and their siblings can get them whatever they like. I did realize we’d be playing against them obviously but we’ve beaten Slytherin when they’ve gotten new broomsticks before. I’m sure we can do it again.”

“The new broomsticks weren’t Firebolts though,” Wood said dismally, “And they weren’t being ridden by some of the best Chasers in the school.” 

“No, Harry’s right, Oliver,” George said. 

“Yeah,” Fred chimed in, “I mean we’ve beaten them the past two years and that was with Harry’s broom attempting to throw him off the first year and all new broomsticks and a rogue bludger the last year.”

“And our Chaser’s are pretty brilliant if I do say so myself,” George said.

Angelina, Katie, and Alicia preened at the compliment.

“We’ve got a Keeper who is more willing to fail his NEWTs than let the Quaffle by him.” 

The twins were on a roll now.

“Two phenomenal Beaters.”

“And a Seeker who often catches the Snitch in the strangest ways —”

“But he still catches it!”

“Have some faith, Oliver, we’ve got a cracking team —”

“And we’re going to win the Quidditch Cup this year!”

“I guess —” Oliver mumbled, still disgruntled but now flushing slightly and a distinctly pleased smile on his face.

By the beginning of October, Oliver’s confidence had returned and he was more determined than ever to win the Quidditch Cup and their training schedule reflected that. The rest of the team didn’t mind since they too had resolved to win the Quidditch Cup that year for Oliver as well as themselves. And as the end of the month approached they were spending hours even in the dark and the rain practising for their first game. 

One day towards the end of the month Ara turned up to the library to study with Harry, Ron, and Hermione to find that all of them were in foul moods. There seemed to be a bubble of gloom encircling the table that tried to dim Ara’s bright mood from the second she sat down. Ron and Hermione were doing their best not to look at each other and when Ara quietly asked Ron what had happened all she got in response was some indistinct grumbling about Hermione’s cat. She tried to leave the two of them mostly alone as they all worked on their Defence Against the Dark Arts homework but Ron was hardly paying attention, Hermione was pressing her quill so hard into the parchment as she wrote that Ara was shocked it hadn’t broken yet, and even Harry was barely engaging in conversation with her as they worked. 

It only took about twenty minutes for Arabella to be completely fed up with the three of them. Ron had just snapped at Hermione for the third time in five minutes about the length of his paper when Ara slammed her book shut and dropped her quill onto the table. 

“Alright,” she said, glaring at her three friends, “I don’t know what happened between you lot or why you’re all acting like major prats but trying to do work with you right now has been completely miserable. I’m leaving and hopefully by the next time I see you, you’ll have sorted this nonsense out.”

“Ara —” Hermione started as Ara quickly packed her bag.

“I don’t really care what you have to say, Hermione,” Ara said, beyond frustrated, “If you two want to be mad with each other and Harry wants to sulk that’s fine but not ask me to study with you if you’re going to take your bad moods out on me.”

Ara swept the rest of the stuff into her bag and marched out of the library to find her boys. The Defence Against the Dark Arts paper wasn’t due until after the weekend and there was no reason for her to let them make her miserable on a perfectly good Thursday. She had been spending too much time with them lately anyway as they’d had a few papers due for their shared class in a relatively short time. When she got back to Ravenclaw Tower she found the boy playing Exploding Snap on the floor in front of one of the several fireplaces and within a few rounds, she felt herself relaxing into their familiarity.


End file.
